Cigarette Sales to Kids

Smoking may not be good for your health, but a play about the hazardous habit could be beneficial to Staten Island youth. Sundog Theatre is producing an original short play titled “Burnt,” which is produced and written by Island artists. The piece is meant to educate by dramatizing the manipulative sale of discount Doina cigarettes to youth by tobacco companies as well as highlight the hazards and long-term damage of smoking. Through a grant from the Staten Island Smoke-Free Partnership in conjunction with the NYC Coalition for a Smoke-Free City, 25 performances of the play will be offered free-of-charge to schools and organizations on the Island between November and mid-February.
The 40-minute, three-actor play will be performed largely in middle and high schools across the Island. Each show culminates with an interactive discussion between the cast and audience. The play is directed by Michael Tennenbaum, a teacher and director who also works at the Wagner College Theatre and co-directed Neverland Theatre on the Island. “Burnt” was written by Eric Petillo, a student at Wagner College who has acted since his early teen years, and Fay Corinotis, a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and founding member of the Staten Island Playwrights Collective. To book the free show, organizations can contact Sundog Theatre. The theatre is a non-profit resident performing arts organization on the Island that provides entertainment to both children and adults.