When the Las Vegas mass shooting happened in October, Purdue University Northwest’s English department was preparing for “The Library.”
The drama, which focuses on the aftermath of a deadly high school shooting, was staged Nov. 3-4 at the Hammond campus and is set for Nov. 10-11 performances at Canterbury Theatre in Michigan City.
“We tend to feel pretty helpless about it. It feels like it makes it more urgent to tell the story even if we don’t know how to fix it. It feels like talking about it and thinking about and addressing the situation more publicly is certainly a positive direction,” said Bethany Lee, director of “The Library.”
“It’s really about the media narrative that occurs and how we media consumers process tragedy now and how we construct narratives because we’re so media-saturated. Thinking about how we make those narratives is really important to me.”
“The Library” features Purdue University Northwest and Ivy Tech Community College students.
“Because I teach I have some of these students in classes,” said Lee, assistant professor of English at Purdue University Northwest — Westville.
“Some of the students prepared presentations about recent mass shootings and how they were portrayed in the media and how America deals with mass shootings and tragedies different than other countries and also how these kind of events affect family and friends.
“We really tried to get a good comprehension for historical perspective.”
“The Library” is by Scott Z. Burns, who co-wrote the Academy Award-winning “The Bourne Ultimatum” and was a producer on the Academy Award-winning documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.”
“As the show begins there’s just been a school shooting. We come up on a surgeon and nurse operating on a girl who is one of the two survivors of the shooting and we start to learn a little about what’s happened,” said Lee, of Valparaiso.
“As she starts her recovery we also learn that all of these other things have been said about her in the media to the point that it makes her seem as if she was involved in the shooting so a lot of questions arise about that.
“It’s a lot of storytelling and trying to figure out who’s telling the truth.”
The cast and crew includes Chesterton, Hobart, Kouts, Lafayette, LaPorte, Michigan City, New Carlisle, San Pierre, and Valparaiso residents.
“They’re amazing. They’ve just jumped in really willingly and tackled some really tough stuff. There’s the complexity of the narrative but there’s also the violence and difficult family situations going on in the background,” Lee said.
“It’s really impressive and also heartening because it’s easy to feel sometimes that students are apathetic about major events like this.”
Purdue University Northwest was established by the unification of the former Purdue University Calumet and Purdue University North Central.
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“A lot of people don’t even realize that we’re doing theater because we don’t have a traditional theater program,” Lee said.
“We’re doing four shows a year now. It’s usually a variety of things like a comedy, something more serious, usually a musical and then a Renaissance or historical play. We have a wide range of theatrical offerings and we have really amazing talent.
“We have a lot of students who have won local theater awards. We just have a lot more going on in our theater spaces and out in the community as well.”
Due to mature content and language, parental guidance is advised for “The Library.”
Jessi Virtusio is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
‘The Library’
When: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 10-11; 3 p.m. Nov. 11
Where: Canterbury Theatre, 807 Franklin St., Michigan City
Tickets: $10 general admission; $5 students
Information: 219-874-4269; www.canterburytheatre.org