As the lights turn on, all the audience sees are people in black shirts. In the next few moments they will witness a couple go from good, to bad, to worse in their relationship, finally ending in physical violence. This is Outrage, and it has changed since BVNW has last seen it.

Outrage actors perform dating violence scenarios in order to make the audience aware of the issue of dating violence. With the prevalence of social media, the Outrage needed to update the script that was performed at many schools and events in the Kansas City area.

As Outrage actors began practicing their new script, there was also a new member to the team, Monica Phinney. Phinney is now the new Outrage director for the Kansas City area.

“I think that Monica is a great leader, and even though I miss Allison (last year’s director), they both have brought new things to the table,” sophomore member Nate Kochuyt said.

Phinney said the old script was outdated.

“The script needed a dire update that hadn’t happened in a couple years,” Phinney said.

With new social media sites and statistics changing, such as 29 percent of teenage girls and 24 percent of males surveyed reporting being physically abused by their partner, it was time for a rewrite, Phinney said.

These statistics from a study done by the American Psychologist Association show that there has been an increase in dating violence in the past year. Thus, the need for dating violence awareness has gone up, Phinney said.

Phinney said these changes aim to help inform the audience that dating violence is not just caused by men; the rewrite is also meant to show that the male figure can be the one being abused.

“Now instead of just having a female victim, there will also be a male victim,” Kochuyt said.

Dating violence can also be sending harsh or negative comments on the Internet or by text, Phinney said.

Phinney said that dating violence statistics have increased partially due to the rise in the use of smartphones by teens.

With the new changes to the script, Phinney said she is hoping that the Outrage performance will be more informative and taken more seriously.

“The Outrage program is hoping that the students will have a better understanding of our message with these new improvements,” Kochuyt said.

The Outrage will perform for BVNW juniors some time in February. The program is actively recruiting male actors for the spring semester. If interested in joining, you can request an application by emailing [email protected].