When young students turn into gunmen, the world is forced to examine and question what led to these shocking crimes. So disturbing is the nature of these killings that we often delve into psychology in search of an explanation.

This complex issue is currently being tackled by a group of students from the Shanghai Theater Academy in the play Trial on Independence Day. The play is an adaptation from Never the Sinner by American playwright John Logan. It's based on a true story of a 1924 murder in Chicago. The original male killers are replaced by two 18-year-old girls in the play. The main character, Louis, is a bright university student studying philosophy. But after she discovers her billionaire father is having an affair, she begins to repel men. Her attention shifts to masculine women and she meets Carol, an independent class-mate. The two girls, desperate for attention, kidnap Carol's cousin and then by accident kill him. This sensational murder triggers off huge disputes between the pair and despite lawyer Clarence Darrow's legal defense they are sentenced to death on July 4th.

"This play is always serious, never light-hearted," Director Fan Yisong says. "Actually it's quite demanding for our student performers." The play is the most important work for this year's juniors from the acting and stage design departments of the Shanghai Theater Academy.

"Director Fan asks us to focus on understanding the roles," says Dong Yi who plays Darrow. "He gives us a lot of space to create our own ideas."

Fan has chosen a relatively small theater at the academy to break the traditional audience-performer relationship and create an intimate setting. "I hope that audiences can feel close to the performers," he explains. "Also I've used a montage of scenes so that the play has similarities with the structure of a movie."

Different lighting has been adopted to divide time and space. In keeping with the serious tone, the stage sets are based on cold colors. "The wall will be in dark color," explains stage setting designer Zhou Feng. "So as to present a heavy and dignified style."

Since starting rehearsals in February, all the students have been actively participating in different discussions that relate to the play. Many agree that Director Fan is very good at igniting enthusiasm in the cast. "Performers can also join the director's part," Dong, who's also the deputy director, says. "So that we can experience a more profound process which greatly helps further our study and careers."

What is impressive about the play, as the performers point out, is that apart from comprehensive acting training, it also teaches them something about understanding humanity. The most intriguing part that drives their curiosity is the two lead roles. "Actually Carol is quite normal in most aspects," Zhu Jie says, who plays the character of Carol. "It is her family that turns her personality to negative." In the story, Carol's parents are always busy making money and hardly have time to communicate with their daughter. "As a matter of fact, many young people nowadays experience the same situation as Carol," Zhu continues. "They live in an unhappy world, often neglected by their parents who always have excuses for their lack of parenting." At first, Zhu couldn't fathom why Carol turned into a killer, but after carefully reading the play she came to a better understanding of her role. "Carol cherishes a pure and kind heart, but at 18 she's also quite a traitor," she explains. "The love and care that she's entitled to is missing which leads to a troubled soul. It shows a really good environment really counts for a youth's growth."

Ye Qingqing, who plays Louis, says "Parents should spend more time with their children and material things don't mean everything. Many children, in fact, are in dire need of love and attention." Ye thinks that the audience should view Louise objectively and not simply criticize and condemn her. Louis is pretty, born in a rich family and is a good student. Everything seems so perfect for her but in the end this good girl turns into a criminal. "Actually there's not simply good or bad people in this world," she says. "The conduct of every person has an origin that we should think over."

Dong Yi agrees, "Yes, and this is what the lawyer in the play detests most -- the origin of crime." This renowned American lawyer in the 1920s believed that mercy was a great human virtue. Before the youth killing case, none of his clients had been sentenced to death. "This is another issue that the play tries to explore. Human beings should stop slaughtering each other," Dong says. At the end of the play, after the girls are executed, crimes continue. "So society will be just as ugly and dark as ever if the origin of the crime doesn't change," he says. "The two girls are merely small examples."

The words from a psychologist in the play have deeply touched these young people: "Deep down in everyone's heart there lies a Pandora's box. The box is so brittle that the demon inside will escape if unguarded. There is only one step from an angel to a demon. All humans are angels but in an instant all will can turn to demons..."

Time: 7:15pm, June 8-15

Venue: Black Box Theater, Shanghai Theater Academy, 630 Huashan Rd

Ticket: 20 yuan

Tel: 021-6248-8103, 6248-5604

(eastday.com June 4, 2004)