“Death of a Rookie”. A play written and performed by Hank Nuwer


Hank Nuwer has written two different versions of a play about a young man who dies in an alcohol-fueled initiation. In one version the youth is a fraternity pledge.

In this play, “Death of a Rookie,” it is a freshman ballplayer who perishes. Many of the lines in the play come from Hank’s interviews with families who lost a son in a hazing incident.

This play was first acted by Hank Nuwer after he was selected as an Anne Frank fellowship winner at Buffalo State College. It has been performed as a reading by Hank for athletes at the University of Cincinnati, Franklin College and at a California high school. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stYw1OeSjoQ