Dawson College, Columbine High School and Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique are notable examples.

The names of each school are synonymous with violence, thanks to deranged gunmen and overwhelming media exposure.

The gunmen captured headlines, but what about the victims and survivors? Will their stories ever be told?

Ancaster native Art Moore explores those questions with his latest play, Just Another School Shooting, on stage this week at the Toronto Fringe Festival.

Mr. Moore still recalls the tense anxiety he felt on Dec. 6, 1989. Fourteen women were gunned down at Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique, making the Montreal massacre a permanent footnote in Canadian history.

At the time Mr. Moore's thoughts turned immediately to his sister who was attending nearby McGill University.

From that point on he's paid close attention to other school shootings and their portrayal in the media.

"That's what probably planted the seed," Mr. Moore said.

Mr. Moore's play tells the story of high school students dealing with the painful aftermath of a school shooting. Shown in reverse-chronological order, the play's characters unite in an attempt to somehow make sense of the tragedy they've experienced.

Mr. Moore is also a high school teacher in Moncton, N.B.

In Just Another School Shooting, viewers feel the aftermath from the surviving students' point of view. A girl who dreamed of becoming a surgeon has been shot through the arm. Another student is left confined to a wheelchair.

"They wonder how they can honour their friends without bringing attention to an evil event," Mr. Moore said.

One of the play's central themes is the way violence is portrayed in the media.

A noteworthy case is the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School in Jefferson County, Colorado.

Mr. Moore said the media coverage focused on the two shooters and often ignored the stories of the 12 victims who were killed.

"The victims are relatively anonymous," Mr. Moore said.

While he was writing Just Another School Shooting, the Sept. 2006 story about Kimveer Gill and Dawson College shooting victim Anastasia DeSousa was just hitting the news. Anastasia, an 18-year-old student was killed and several other students were wounded by a gunman who took his own life.

The gunman's story gained intense media coverage. Anastasia's photo and story were also splashed across newspapers from coast to coast.

While he admits the media focused more on Anastasia's life than the lives of the Columbine victims seven years earlier, Mr. Moore still doesn't believe victims of violence are given appropriate media coverage.

He points to the war in Darfur, Sudan, which has claimed the lives of up to 400,000 people while garnering very few headlines.

Meanwhile, Hollywood socialite Paris Hilton makes front page news by spending a few hours in jail for a DUI.

"Why is Paris Hilton that interesting?" Mr. Moore said.

Mr. Moore is a published poet and playwright. He was recently awarded an Arts New Brunswick Creation Grant for playwriting. Recently he was honoured by Theatre in the Raw Vancouver for Just Another School Shooting which won for best social issues distinction script.

The play was previously staged at the Atlantic Fringe Festival in Halifax.

Some of Mr. Moore's former students will act in the play, including Anna Doucette, as Shannon Lane, a goth girl with a drinking problem. Genevieve Furlotte-Madore, who is now a teacher in real-life, plays student, Dalia Levy.

Mr. Moore attended Ancaster High School and Westdale Secondary. He once lived in Ancaster's historic Tisdale House, now part of Ancaster Square.

Mr. Moore has authored a book of poetry, called The Winter Croquet and Cocktail Society and has several other works available at Bryan Prince Bookseller in Westdale.

The Toronto Fringe Festival runs July 4-13. Tickets for Just Another School Shooting are available for $10. For information visit www.fringetoronto.com.