Over the span of 15 years the Stonington Opera House has been the host of community staged and conducted productions.
The most recent is “ columbinus,” an award-winning documentary-style play written by Stephen Karam and PJ Paparelli in 2005. The play centers around the Columbine High School massacre of 1999 and the surrounding community.
Directed by Deer Isle-Stonington High School junior Nicole Nolan, the play and its director is held in high regard by the Opera House’s Producing Artistic Director, Linda Nelson. “It is a terrific and challenging play and we are proud of her for taking on with great aplomb,” Nelson said in an email.
Nolan has previously worked as an intern for the Opera House and is its current assistant house manager. Nolan has also held acting roles in several Opera House and Reach Performing Arts Center productions.
The creators’ idea is to embody the student’s identities involved in the shooting through journals, the survivors’ memoirs, and public records of the event. Through eight teenage stereotypes — Freak, Loner, Rebel, AP, Perfect, Faith, Jock and Prepare — the play hopes to shed light on the daily struggles for high school students.
Nolan is accompanied by current and past high school students as her cast, as well as mentor and special guest artist Per Janson, an Actors Equity actor from New York City.
“It’s a moving play, and the ways it speaks truth to student alienation makes it complex and challenging,” Nelson said.
The play will be staged at the Stonington Opera House at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 27, and Thursday, May 28. Tickets are $8 and will be available at the door.