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Rachel Gaunce (center) plays the role of Caitlin Gabriel in "The Library" and leads the cast in a drama about the aftermath that follows school shootings in America. Gabriel was accused of assisting the shooter and struggles to redeem her identity. "The Library" is showing in The Forum Theater in RTV this week. (LIZ MOUGHON | FOR THE POST)

The First Show of The 2016-17 Theater Season, 'The Library'

Audience members are invited to gain perspective about school shootings and tragic aftermaths by attending a play Wednesday within the College of Fine Arts.

Ohio University Division of Theater will be presenting its first production of the 2016-17 season, The Library. According to the College of Fine Arts website, the play is described as a “compelling drama about violence in America and the narratives shaped in the aftermath of a tragic school shooting.”

Originating from Scott Z. Burns, and directed by Shelley Delaney, the cast and crew have been preparing for the production since March. They have transformed the play by adding ensemble into scenes in order to “make the experience that much more impactful,” Carson Cerney, who plays Nolan Gabriel, said.

Cerney said the play will be an “emotional rollercoaster for the crowd.” He added that he has been fortunate to never have experienced a school shooting, but his part as Nolan was hard to play due to this “unfathomable idea.”

"(The Library is) something that people need to see with their parents and family because this is a conversation we need to have,” Cerney said.

The cast will hold discussions following the performances on Oct. 1 and 5. There will also be a moderated discussion for interested participants about the performance on Friday, Oct. 7 at 11:55 a.m. as part of the theater department's weekly "lunchbag" meeting, Kristin Conrad, who plays Dawn Sheridan, said.

Conrad said playing Sheridan was a challenge because she felt pressure to portray her character as a more dimensional person than she initially appears.

“We wake up daily to more and more violence on the news, and as a society we are becoming more and more numb to the actual personal lives that feel each headline,” Conrad said.

Conrad said she is immensely proud of the theater department and its willingness to take on such “timely, challenging material."

“I am often surprised by what hits the deepest at any given moment," she said.

Michelle Lane, the assistant director of The Library, said the production is “a look at what we perceive as personal narrative versus truth.”

“We took this play wherever it started to take us,” Lane said. “It has a lot of emotional points and a side of tragedy we don’t usually see.”

She added that there are always different accounts of what happened during tragedies such as the shooting in the play, and even if a person was there, his or her fear and terror can alter their account of the event.

“(The story in the play is) bigger than who we are because school shootings are a nationwide epidemic,” Lane said. “This is an important story for college campuses and students to see.”

@lesliemilkie37

lm755415@ohio.edu

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