The cell phones ring and ring, in pockets and on the floor.
Friends and family are frantic to reach their loved ones in the aftermath of a mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. Someone who has come to clean up the club picks up a phone, and answers.
This is just one of the scenes in After Orlando, a collection of very short plays by written by theatre artists in reaction to the June 2016 shooting at the gay nightclub in Florida where 49 died and 53 were injured. It was the deadliest attack against the LGBTQ+ community in U.S. history, and the largest terrorist incident since 9/11.
Dom DiCaprio ’22 is directing Siena’s production of After Orlando, which will be entirely produced and acted by Siena students.
“These stories are about pain, and about healing, and how we react to tragedy,” said DiCaprio. “After Orlando has taken a very painful episode and shown us, through the power of theatre, how to take something awful and make it beautiful.”
The entire After Orlando collection includes more than 100 separate monologues, dialogues and other pieces at over 800 pages of content. Directors and producers can select the most meaningful pieces for their audiences; DiCaprio worked over the summer to choose 13 selections that would resonate here at Siena.
“Some of the scenes are very intense; some are a bit more light-hearted. I tried to choose scenes that connected with me as a director, with the thought that they would also connect with a college audience.”
The actors will read the names of the Orlando fallen during the production. Each actor was asked by DiCaprio to research the individuals whose names they will share, so they can more fully appreciate the person behind the statistic.
Krysta Dennis, Ph.D., producer of creative arts and Michael Lounello, theatre technical manager brought After Orlando to the attention of Siena’s creative arts department after seeing a production staged in Orlando in 2019, just a few miles from the Pulse nightclub.
“It is an incredibly moving piece of theatre,” said Dennis. “The play provides a wonderful opportunity for our students to utilize an artistic intervention to think about processing grief, celebrating life, allyship to the LGBTQ+ community, and hope for the future.”
DiCaprio said most current students may not remember the Pulse nightclub shooting, that even though it was a mere five years ago it may now be in the realm of history for him and his peers.
Britt McFadden ’21, considers their role in After Orlando as a conduit to transfer the personal experiences of the playwrights not only to themself but to the audience as well.
“It is so important to be exposed to this, no matter who you are,” they said. “It gives insight to the lives of those affected by such a tragic event but makes it a much more human experience than just hearing about it on the news. I'm hoping this production will impact the Siena community in a way that will get others to recognize the importance of acceptance and the literal sense of community. We are here for one another as well as for ourselves, so we should help protect and lift others up when we can.”
Jack Ellis ’24 said they found the preparation process challenging, especially given that one of their characters is a potential killer and something they could never truly relate to.
“I was helped by the fact that the style we were doing is more intentionally disconnected, with the interest of focusing on the words written by the playwrights, as opposed to us as actors,” said Ellis. “I myself knew criminally little about LGBTQ+ history prior to this production, and now I know a bit more of my own history. I think that it'll be very important for people of all communities, especially in our Siena community, to hear about these histories.”
Fiona Hoye ’22, who plays the cleaner who answers the cell phone of a murdered club-goer, said After Orlando is unlike any other show they have been in due to its collaborative, experimental nature.
“The scenes that I'm involved in are all so different from one another and yet they all connect through a few threads, one of which is the idea of ‘queer joy,’” Hoye said. “To me, this is a subversive celebration of identity, a million tiny revolutions in everyday life for members of the LGBTQ+ community. Even though After Orlando shows the darker elements of living as a part of the LGBTQ+ community, it also allows us to celebrate our identity and express queer joy.”
Performances are Dec. 3 and 4 at 8PM and Dec. 5 at 2pm in Foy 107. Tickets are free; vaccinations and masks will be required.
