In a lot of ways, 2010 felt like the year of the bully. It was difficult to turn to any national media outlet without finding yet another news story about a teen suicide tied to bullying, be it by conventional schoolyard methods or the continually escalating electronic means. Secret webcams, fake MySpace accounts. A revolution in anonymous abuse.

Seattle-based Taproot Theatre has been touring school in the Pacific Northwest for more than 25 years, presenting educational plays on subjects ranging from health and fitness promotion to drug and alcohol awareness.

The current season focuses entirely on the impact and prevention of bullying. This topical focus is no accident. According to Taproot Outreach Director Nathan Jeffrey, the company is "very proactive about taking our subject matter from the schools." Participating schools and their students receive a post-performance survey to determine areas of need in the coming year.

"It's very important to us to stay relevant to what is happening in the environment," adds Jeffrey. "Last year we had quite a few schools ask us for plays that dealt with not just bullying, but diversity and cyber-bullying."

In the wake of these requests, two new plays were commissioned for the 2010-2011 season. Due to very specific technical and performance requirements - the touring company is only five people, including both the cast and crew - virtually all of Taproot's school shows are commissioned, usually from current or former members.

This year's new works include Josh Hornbeck's Don't Tell Jessica, targeted at grades 6-12. Jessica uses the backdrop of homecoming to address the deliberate and malicious spread of gossip and rumors via electronic means.

The other new script, K-6 production Treasure Ally, by Bethany Wallace, presents the possibility of befriending your own bully - after all, he may be getting bullied himself.

Two of the plays currently in production will be performed in Tacoma on Monday, Feb. 7. Also by Josh Hornbeck, New Girl, now in its second year touring, will be staged at Mason Middle School during a morning assembly. New Girl joins Don't Tell Jessica in addressing cyber-abuse. That evening at 5:30 p.m., Treasure Ally will be performed at downtown's Tacoma Rescue Mission.

Of course, Taproot are not the only ones concerned with bullying and its effect on students. Most schools have some form of anti-harassment curriculum in place. So what benefit does a play provide that teachers in a classroom cannot?

"These performances are really important to creating a common frame of reference," says Jeffrey. "When we come in and do one of these plays the entire school has the same thing to talk about."

So do these plays really work? Do students respond to them in the long term? Time will tell. According to Jeffrey, "We generally get an enthusiastic response from the schools. However, we don't hear a lot from the students directly. There has to be a certain level of parental approval for any kind of communication, so we deal mostly with the school's administration."

Taproot's touring plays have been seen by over a million students since 1985. Even as suicides and teen depression slip from the headlines, bullying and harassment show no signs of slowing down, and until it does, neither does the Taproot Theatre.

[Mason Middle School, New Girl, Monday, Feb. 7, morning assembly, 3901 N 28^th St., Tacoma, 253.571.7000]

[Tacoma Rescue Mission, Treasure Ally, Monday, Feb. 7, 5:30 p.m., 910 Tacoma Ave. S, Tacoma, 253.798.2187]