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Young playwright brings activist’s passion to contest-winning work
BY ELLEN GILLETTE
mentor him during the playwriting process. ANGEL SALCEDO
On Oct. 6, audiences across the country were informed and moved by six student-written, student-read, one-act plays, chosen from more than 3,000 entries to the Enough! Plays to End Gun Violence competition. Among the six plays was Nobody Cares About Death, written by Hobe Sound’s Ian Hodges.
Hodges’ play was seen locally at StarStruck Academy in Stuart. In it, the Grim Reaper weighs in on a controversial topic. “It’s Death’s first televised interview about his new, best-selling memoir,” Hodges said. “He kind of highjacks the interview, talking about school shootings and how he deals with the constant influx of children. It’s dark, obviously.”
This was not the first year Hodges entered the contest. When a previous one-act wasn’t selected, he enrolled in an online writing class with award-winning playwright Crystal Skillman. “It was during the pandemic, a group lesson. She had these brilliant ways of understanding your characters, and ways to find unique voices for them.”
Hodges tweaked the play after learning more about formatting and structures, and receiving feedback from the first year’s judges. And then the second year’s.
They do say that the third time’s a charm: This year, Nobody Cares about Death made it into the group of 20 finalists and was announced a winner. The panel of judges included authors and playwrights Jason Reynolds, James Ijames, Kate Hamill, Karen Zacarías; Ken Cerniglia, a dramaturg for Disney and other productions; and former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, a survivor of gun violence herself.
PASSION FOR WRITING
Born in Jupiter, Hodges lived briefly outside of Boston, where he loved visiting historical sites. Most of his life has been spent in Hobe Sound, falling in love with reading and writing at an early age. His second grade teacher impressed upon him the importance of writing, as the way the human mind expresses itself.
“I appreciate it more now,” he said. His favorite books include Venomous Lumpsucker by Ned Beauman and Messiah by Gore Vidal. “Obviously, there’s Mr. Kurt Vonnegut. All of his stuff’s incredible.”
As a freshman at Martin County High School, Hodges learned that there hadn’t been a school newspaper for years. He and a friend, fellow student Julia Murphy, made the Tiger Times a reality once again; Hodges is the editor. A journalism career isn’t on the horizon, however.
“I want to become a constitutional lawyer or a politician,” Hodges said. “It’s not so much what I want, but I feel so strongly about things. I feel the people in power are doing it incorrectly. They don’t listen. If someone’s going to do it, I might as well do it myself. It would be hypocritical not to be willing to act.”
A television show, oddly enough, got the activist juices flowing. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” Hodges said, with a laugh. “It made me realize for the first time, during middle school, that there’s so much in the world that’s wrong.” His aunt, Donna Smith of Massachusetts, also played an influential role. “She’s worked on tons of campaigns over the years. She uses a walker and she’s still out there protesting.”
Hodges’ parents encourage him to think critically about information he gathers. “There have been opinions I’ve had that were just wrong, and they’re like, ‘You should take a look at this,’” he said. “They’ve helped me shape opinions, but I’ve figured out a lot of it myself. If there are three people watching C-Span, I’m one of them.”
STAGE HANDY
Dreaming of being the next Stephen Colbert, Hodges took an acting class with Jennifer Yormack at StarStruck Academy when he was 7 or 8. Instead, he fell in love with theater. Since then, he’s acted at various theaters — including his September role in Neil Simon’s Laughter on the 23rd Floor at A.C.T. Studio Theatre in Stuart — and also stage managed, which is a huge responsibility at any age.
“It sounds cliched, but I love the stories. All the different stories, the ways theater can be used, getting to be a part of telling some other playwright’s story, telling their version — it’s amazing.”
With Nobody Cares About Death, Hodges had the opportunity to see others bring his own story to the stage. He and his family traveled to Atlanta for a special Oct. 4 presentation of the Enough! plays at Jared’s Heart for Success, an organization dedicated to ending gun violence. He and the other winners were invited to stay for a showing on Oct. 6 at the Alliance Theatre, but it was important to Hodges that he be at StarStruck when his show went live on home turf.
Yormack acted as Hodges’ mentor as he wrote his script and as the narrator for the Oct. 6 presentation. When she called him to the stage for a bit of Q&A, he received a standing ovation.
Cordelia Marks of Palm City, a frequent visitor to StarStruck for many years, raised her hand. “You made me think about things in a different way,” Marks said. “That’s really something at my age.”
Hodges is really something at his age, as well.
IAN EDWARD HODGES
Age: 16
Lives in: Hobe Sound
Occupation: Student and playwright
Family: Father, Jon; mother, Wendy; and sister, Isa
Education: Junior at Martin County High School in Stuart
Hobbies: Writing, reading
Who inspires me: “My parents — they’ve always encouraged me to write about anything, to do what I’ve wanted to ... obviously, within reason.”
Something most people don’t know about me: “I was locked out of my classroom during an active shooter drill in the fourth grade. In that moment, I realized that I’m not immortal. Things happen, not just on the news. I had nightmares. Now I can laugh about it and I’m sort of glad it happened, because from a young age, it made me realize that apathy is insufficient. [Gun violence] is something that needs to be handled. Immediately. Now. It’s a pressing issue.”
