Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them

by A. Rey Pamatmat

Three kids - Kenny, his sister Edith, and their friend Benji - are all but abandoned on a farm in remotest Middle America. With little adult supervision, they feed and care for each other, making up the rules as they go. But when Kenny's and Benji's relationship becomes more than friendship, and Edith shoots something she really shouldn't shoot, the formerly indifferent outside world comes barging in whether they want it to or not.

Genres: Plays, Read For School, Drama, Queer, LGBT

90 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Themis one of those stories that can get right under your skin. A. Rey Pamatmat creates a perfect pace in his tale: from the flow of the realistic dialogue to the length and balance of scenes to the weight given to the two acts, Edith Can Shoot Things ... slips away before your eyes know what’s happened -- and that is when it’s being read on the page.

There is so much to recommend this play, so much to make me want to see it, but the genuine love it conveys is what I most want to see captured onstage. Pamatmat’s three characters -- Edith, Kenny, and Benji -- love each other in profound ways, and I found myself wanting everything to work out for them, knowing full well that even if things worked out in the play, they would someday fall apart when the events of the play came to a close and the cruelty of the world overwhelmed them. Yet Edith Can Shoot Things ... conveys hope and joy. I don’t know how, but it does.

It also contains one of the most genuine romantic relationships I have read. Kenny and Benji are a pair of playful, flirtatious, sexual, supportive, brave 16 year olds. Loving each other. Really loving each other. Being in love with each other. And making that love okay for each other. It is rare to see something like that, and rarer still to see a gay teenage relationship offered up as the safe haven from drama rather than as the root of drama. Pamatmat is a magician.

I set aside Edith Can Shoot Things ... with one sad thought. A fear really. I fear that where I live, in the Canadian Prairies, is too conservative, even in my socialist city oasis, to offer this beautiful play on our stages, so I may never get to see it performed. Like I said, a sadness.

[Edie Hoesterey · Rating 5 out of 5]

yall should read this play even if you are not a play person. it was 🔥🔥. love 3 person plays, love siblings, love sharing a name w titular character. also max reuben is lowk such a freak he has us reading crazy plays

[Leylamaría · Rating 5 out of 5]

BENJI
You and Edith. You’re all alone in that house and sometimes it’s creepy and sometimes you’re running out of money, but you can take care of yourselves. I would just be helpless. Or scared.

KENNY
But I am. I’m really scared, Benji. What have I gotten us into? Fine. Edith can shoot things and hit them. But she shouldn’t have to shoot things. And I’m not a robot. I should be allowed to be scared sometimes instead of always fixing things. I just want to sit and be scared and for things to be okay.

—

THIS PLAY WAS SO.......FUCKING GOOD the dynamics were especially well-crafted and it’s insane that it’s only 3 actors because even though Edith and Kenny’s dad never once shows up onstage, and neither does any of Benji’s family, or their neighbors—their presence is still very much Felt when they’re being discussed? Which is a common thing in a lot of plays, but it tends to fall really flat for me usually, and here, it definitely landed. Like in the scenes over the phone. And I think it’s because it’s never casual interactions these people have with the outside world, Kenny and Edith especially live a certain kind of way that draws a certain kind of attention (shown v well through Dina’s mom’s treatment of them) and it’s just Very pronounced.

And it’s like. You know it’s awful that Kenny and Edith have to literally fend for themselves, you know it’s awful that Edith—who is TWELVE—knows how to shoot things and hit them, but it’s handled so well in contrast w the knowledge that every single adult in their life HAS failed them and whenever authority is exerted over them it just makes it worse. It’s like, these kids were forced to grow up and their behavior and way of living is a direct consequence of that, and how DARE the main perpetrator of that try and turn them into something more “palatable” and “normal” (that one stage direction saying that Edith looked ridiculous in her reform school uniform, like a wild animal.....) when it’s their father’s fault they’re all alone in the first place, it’s INFURIATING

And then also how it ends with Edith being disturbed at seeing her father crying in the car and how Edith Kenny and Benji have dinner together instead of waiting up for him like IT IS ABOUT FOUND FAMILH!!!!!!! IT IS!!!!!!!! AND EDITH AND BENJI MADE ME INSAAAANE WHEN SHES LIKE I CANT USE MY GUN W MY ARM IN A CAST SO YOU HAVE TO LEARN YOU HAVE TO PROTECT US LIKE THATS A FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And Kenny and Benji’s relationship was just. VERY good and the scene dealing w the aftermath of Benji getting kicked out for the note + the mixtape made me cry.....Edith telling him to read the note to Kenny and he DOES and Edith saying See Did Anything Happen? You’re Safe LIKE GD......THEM!!!!!!!!!

[Jack Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pamatmat wrote a play full of lively characters and a plot that was the perfect blend of comedy and drama. I really liked Kenny and Benji's relationship, the themes of growing up too fast and recognizing when someone isn't all they cracked up to be were spot-on (especially since the parents were a mess here, but for distinct reasons), and the dialogue was sharp and humorous. I wasn't a big fan of the use of the r-word in the second-to-last scene, the discussion about space wasn't as relevant to the story as I would have liked, and I did feel the pacing of the second act was too fast compared to the first one. Other than that, this was an enjoyable and light read, and I'll keep my eye out for Pamatmat's other work.

P.S. I can't wait to add "an interruption" into my insults.

[Luke Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heart-wrenching and mesmerizing, Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them tells the story of a twelve-year-old girl and her older brother left to their own devices in a farmhouse, with their dad only providing occasional bank deposits to help them survive. As the brother Kenny falls for another boy, sister Edith strives to prove that she can protect herself. But what happens when she shoots something she shouldn’t? What pain will Benji and Kenny face in 1990’s America thanks to homophobia? Although a drama, its comedic moments will make you laugh and show just how strong these kids are.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

ECSTaHT offers a lovely trio of youths (aged 12 - 16) on their own from the adults who abandoned them (in more ways than one). The interactions between Benji and Kenny are especially strong and delightful.

[oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS WAS AMAZING AND MADE ME CRY AT WORK

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

Great dialogue. Some good scenes and monologues. Strong relationship between a brother & a sister. Also, the developing relationship between 2 young men was very well-done.

Sexually explicit language makes a full production of this script unsuitable for teen actors who are the characters’ same ages, which is unfortunate because all three characters are strong and interesting. It would be an empowering piece for teen actors, if the content was slightly altered.

Also, Filipino-American is specified in the script for two of the characters, but doesn’t seem especially pertinent to the story. It may be my unfamiliarity with Filipino culture, but I kept thinking (for the most part) that this family could be any race. The only true problem spot would be a folktale shared from one generation to another. .... I think more cultural references would be great in order to enhance the Filipino-American perspective. TINY SPOILER: The challenge is the lack of parental leadership so that perhaps what complicates the situation further is those missing parents’ knowledge is lost, and so the children’s cultural knowledge and experiences are diluted.

[Finn · Rating 3 out of 5]

[3.5 stars rounded down]

This was really good, but didn't wow me. The main cast of characters were all likeable, and the story itself was engaging, but I feel as though it didn't really do anything "new" in terms of the overall narrative.

I am all for queer stories, but how many tales of homophobic mothers, parents who have died or abandoned their children, and situational found family must I read? Can we not simply have joy? Must the young gay man, even in literature, be condemned to suffer the same fate over and over, even if love wins out in the end?

Edith herself is what bumps the rating almost to four stars for me, as the "twist" at the end of act one that she spearheaded, while foreshadowed, really was what kept me engaged.

Again, well done and well written, but I don't think it was as innovative as people are saying it was.

[Devin Paul Dumas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author has done it again and has hit on such modern queer themes so well, including teenage discovery of sexuality. This one really hits the “mother goes through her son’s things and finds out he’s gay” trauma for me, but in such an authentic way - it doesn’t sugar coat it, nor does it sensationalize it. All of the characters’ developments are strong and moving, but Benji’s development hit me the most - it so authentically mirrors what I went through, and I so heavily saw myself in him. I think one of the play’s strongest points, however, is that it’s never plays on any will-they-or-won’t-they tropes - sure, they may not. But it never plays with you on it, and they always move through their problems together. Wonderful, intelligent, aware, and real.

[Alex Gruenenfelder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another book that I deeply analyzed for my script analysis class, and I'm so glad I was introduced to it. At the start, I wasn't sure how I felt about this story and these characters, but the playwright does a great job at pulling you in. There are twists and turns throughout, with tension and poetry intermingled in a great play. There were moments tears were almost brought to my eyes. It is not just a good story, but a great use of the art of playwriting. I hope to see this excellent work on-stage someday.

[Amos McCandless · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well told story. A great character piece that follows two children left to fend for themselves by their absent father. Kenny and Edith (Ed) live by themselves in their remote house and have learned to be self-sufficient, until Kenny’s new friend Benji arrives and stirs up (accidentally) their life and routines.

This is a page turner as a play, and I hope to see it live one day!

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Big Feels

[Cori · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Play discussion group script #23)

[NM · Rating 5 out of 5]

I!! Love!! This!! Play!! I love this play!! Go read it!!

[Jamie Steinberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

fantastic.

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Representation right. I love the discussion around forced maturity and the sense of innocence that can be taken from someone in a unique way.

[zz · Rating 3 out of 5]

KENNY: Look. Can I fellatio you now?
BENJI: It’s not a verb.
KENNY: So can I give you fellatio now?
BENJI: It’s an act, not an object. Were you even listening to me?

[adison holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

UGH so good. basically a perfect three person play about adolescence and young queerness. so so so sweet and so so so heartbreaking.

[Evan Heintz · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is such a sweet and powerful play

[Caz Janei · Rating 5 out of 5]

I REALLY LIKED THIS PLAY

[margot]

For THE 344.
Don't have much to say other than I liked it.

[Grace Coe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Webster’s Dictionary… as foreplay???

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

🎭 📖

5/5 stars

[Aspen · Rating 5 out of 5]

i cried while doing my test on this play

[Chambers Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been hearing about this play for some time and it lives up to the hype.
A powerful messy play about young people in love and in trouble doing the best they can to make a family.