Date Rape Play Analysis

According to Rape Abuse and Incest National Network, approximately four out of five rapes are committed by someone known to the victim. The One in Four organization states that “In one year 300,000 college women, over 5% of women enrolled in colleges and universities, experience rape. This does not include other forms of sexual assault” (Kilpatrick, et al.) The brutality of this data stuns me. This is also the reason I take great pride in my writing a one act play about date rape. I wanted to be a part of raising awareness and providing hope and healing to my fellow students as well as members of the community. Unfortunately, I have found that this is a difficult topic for many and not readily discussed by students on college campuses, so I tackled the research and emotional toil needed to write a story about a college student who had been raped.
Though the two characters are female, the universal theme of restoration applies to all sexes. I believe my endeavor brings an active mindfulness to the trauma of rape. The plot revolves around a college student named Sara who has been sent to counseling at the request of her parents. They do this out of a desire to help and, like many parents, are not sure how. They know something has happened to Sara, but she is refusing to discuss her problems. The majority of the play consists of Sara’s counseling session with a trauma specialist named Stephanie. I did this so I could not just bring awareness to the audience, but also to use the counseling session in the play to speak to those in the audience who have been sexually abused already. Sara’s struggles will be familiar to many of them and hopefully let them know they’re not alone as they watch her work through her