Many Amarillo residents are familiar with the story of Brian Deneke, a young artist in the punk community that tragically lost his life in a hit-and-run incident near Western and I-40 in 1997. However, you have never seen the story like this.
Thanks to a local playwright, Jeni Stennis, there's a 45-minute play being performed this weekend that explores the personal reactions of people connected to the families involved. She stopped by High Plains Morning today to talk about her inspiration for this work, as well as the decision to include a post-show "talkback" Q&A to enable a community conversation (hosted by Melodie Graves, a beloved Amarillo community advocate & columnist for Brick & Elm) about bridging our differences, fostering common ground in a polarized community, and quicken the healing we all desire.
Shows will be performed this Friday night, July 25th at 8:15p (with doors at 7p for pre-show drinks, dinner, etc.); the matinee on Sunday will begin at 2:15p CT (with doors open at 1p for pre-show mingling). This weekend's shows in Canyon will be the final ones ahead of The Blind's London performances scheduled at the Camden Fringe Festival! The playwright invites you to arrive early to enjoy food and beverages at Sad Monkey Mercantile, then make your way over to Sad Monkey Hall just before showtime. Again, this 45-minute festival-length version of the show will be followed by an intermission attended by the SM Hall bar staff and a post-show conversation with the cast and playwright, facilitated by Melodie Graves.
ABOUT THE PLAY (from the author): The Blind is a metadrama referencing the 1997 hit-and-run murder of 19-year-old artist and punk musician Brian Deneke in Amarillo, Texas. Compelled by her concerns about a recent surge in hate crimes and the indifference she witnesses in her own community, a woman returns to her hometown to visit a former classmate more than 25 years after the murder of his brother. Her intent: to seek his blessing to write a play about the events that culminated in his brother's tragic death and the subsequent trial that upheld the power of privilege. But as the evening unfolds and as stories, songs, and challenging perspectives are exchanged between them, the clear lines of liability begin to blur around a new allegation.
An artistic expression of cultural reparations and an experiment in strategic storytelling, The Blind reframes an emotionally-charged Texas tragedy that made international headlines in ways that move audience members from detached, externalized empathy to a deeper awareness of personal responsibility and self-examination. The resulting play emphasizes the cultural context that contributes to the "bystander effect", exposes the crime of societal indifference, and asks audiences to examine how "good" people facilitate hate.
ABOUT THE WRITER: The Blind creator, Jeni Stennis, was a childhood classmate of Brian Deneke’s older brother, Jason, and endeavored to write a metadrama based solely on true-story elements as events unfolded in real time during the summer of 2024. She relied on court transcripts, community interviews, and her own memories and lived experiences as well as those of Jason’s, sometimes mining the significance of spontaneous, casual conversations and coincidental encounters in a process designed to uncover brutal, raw truth.
