Q&A With Bystander 9/11 Actress Alison Courchesne

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FRAMINGHAM – On September 11, 2021, Framingham Public Schools and atac (Amazing Things Theatre) will present Bystander 9/11, a powerful play on the 20th anniversary of the attacks on September 11.

Directed by Donna Wresinski, the play features several Framingham Public School employees, Framingham High alumni, and a couple of local politicians.

The performance is scheduled for one-night only in the intimate downtown theatre for September 11 at 8 p.m. There are less than 135 tickets for the performance.

Tickets are available now and are selling fast. As of today, there is only about 2 dozen tickets.

To purchase a ticket click here.

SOURCE is doing a Q&A with the cast members

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Alison Courchesne

Courchesne is the Framingham High librarian and an actress in the play.

Lives in: Framingham

Your acting experience: I have performed in musicals and dramas at Framingham High School, both when I was a student a *few* years ago, and more recently as a teacher in our faculty musicals.  I have also performed in community theatre, though not for quite a few years, and I currently sing with a local choir, Voices of MetroWest.

Favorite actor/actress?  Michelle Williams

What is your favorite play? Ragtime by Ahrens and Flaherty

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Where were you on Sept. 11?  I was an undergraduate at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec.  I heard about the attack from the professor in my “Law and Literature” course, and I thought that it was so unbelievable that he had to be joking.

Why did you want to be a part of this production?  I have missed being a part of an artistic team, and when Donna let me know she was trying to put together this production, I was excited about the opportunity to work with friends and colleagues to produce something together.

How does this play speak to you?  I was 20 years old on September 11th, and now I’m 40.  The events of 9/11 were a dividing line in my life, between innocence and experience.

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What do you wish the audience takes away from this performance?  We are presenting Bystander 9/11 as a way of remembering the immediate crisis of 9/11 and our responses, while at this moment we are living inside the slow-rolling crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic.   Though these two crises are massively different, our rehearsals have made me think about the similarities’ in humans’ response to crises: shock, confusion, emerging understanding, collective action.       

What does hope mean to you?  When I think about “hope,” I think about Emily St. John Mandel’s novel Station Eleven, which takes place in a post-apocalyptic world 20 years after a massive pandemic.   The story focuses on a tiny troupe of traveling actors who attempt to perform Shakespeare amongst the chaos, because, as they believe: “Survival is insufficient” (though the quote is actually borrowed from Star Trek Voyager!).  I think that creating theatre is an inherently hopeful act.  It means that we are going beyond survival,  looking toward the future, and sharing something vital with our community.

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The arts in Framingham are a highlight of our community; I’m proud to come from a place that nurtures and cares deeply about the arts.

When it comes to the arts, Framingham needs more opportunities for people to participate and share in the arts in all of the many languages of Framingham.

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