On Saturday, Dan and made our way to Boulder to a theater that has quickly become one of my favorites: the Dairy Arts Center. (Read a great article involving the Boulder theatre scene and the Dairy Arts Center at American Theatre.)

We were heading to Boulder for a reading of Lauren Gunderson‘s “Natural Shocks.”  The playwright has offered this piece free of royalties, encouraging theaters across the country to perform it and donate the proceeds to organizations combatting gun violence. This weekend, which marks the anniversary of the Columbine school shooting (April 20, 1999), saw 104 theaters in 45 states performing Gunderson’s work.

“Natural Shocks” was well worth the drive. Gunderson’s writing is evocative and timely, and the production (a collaboration between Dairy Art Center’s resident theater groups) was touchingly performed by Mare Trevathan. Through wry humor and a slow reveal, “Shocks” manages not to come off as heavy handed — so is critical when dealing with a topic as charged as domestic abuse and gun violence.

This particular production benefited SPAN, an inclusive safehouse for victims of domestic violence in Boulder County.