Former childhood classmates Jason and Jeni are about to unearth some truth bombs buried deep in the past and long-forgotten.

Blind /blīnd/ n. A projectile not fired in anger which failed to explode when employed but may still pose a risk of future detonation.

A metadrama referencing the 1997 hit-and-run murder of 19-year-old artist and punk musician Brian Deneke in Amarillo, Texas (often called "Bomb City" due to the nearby Pantex Plant, the center for the disassembly and reassembly of nuclear weapons in the U.S.)

Compelled by her concerns about a recent surge in hate crimes and the indifference she witnesses in her own community, Jeni returns to her hometown to visit a former classmate more than 25 years after the murder of his brother. Her intent: to seek his blessing to write a play about the events that culminated in his brother's tragic death and the subsequent trial that upheld the power of privilege. But as the evening unfolds and as stories, music, and challenging perspectives are exchanged between them, the clear lines of liability begin to blur around a new allegation.

The Blind creator Jeni Stennis, a childhood classmate of Brian Deneke’s older brother, Jason, endeavored to write a metadrama based solely on true-story elements as events unfolded in real time during the summer of 2024. She relied on court transcripts, community interviews, and her own memories and lived experiences as well as those of Jason’s, mining the significance of spontaneous conversations and coincidental encounters in a process designed to uncover the raw, brutal truth.

An artistic expression of cultural reparations and an experiment in strategic storytelling, the show exposes the crime of societal indifference and asks us to examine how “good” people unwittingly facilitate hate.

Now undergoing full-length development, The Blind is produced with thanks to Jason Crespin and the historic Amarillo Little Theatre, and to Jason Deneke and the Deneke Family.