Watch Sold Out Bystander 9/11 Play at Home

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FRAMINGHAM – Tonight, Saturday, September 11, Framingham Performing & Fire Arts Director Donna Wresinski will direct a one-night only, sold out performance of the play Bystander 9/11 at ATAC (formerly known as Amazing Things Arts Center.)

Show starts at 8 p.m. and for those attending in person, masks are required and all attendees must show proof of their COVID vaccine.

For our generation the tragic events of September 11, 2011 and the coronavirus pandemic will be forever etched in our brains and in our souls.

But if you were not able to get one of the in-person tickets, you can watch the performance via Facebook LIVE on the Framingham Public Schools Facebook page.

Wresinski is using theatre to help the community heal from both the anniversary of September 11 and the coronavirus pandemic.

Following the hour-long play written by playwright Meron Langsner there will be a 45-minute panel discussion with the playwright, the cast, Framingham Superintendent Bob Tremblay, Assistant Superintendent Joe Corazinni, Framingham Police, Framingham Fire, and Framingham Interfaith Clergy Association.

Tonight’s cast includes several Framingham Public School educators, as well a couple of local politicians.

Framingham High drama teacher Stephanie Henry is the narrator for the play.

There are 8 New Yorkers in the play. Those actors are Eric Dwinnells, Alison Courchesne, Rep. Jack Patrick Lewis, Walsh Middle School Theatre teacher Sheron Doucette, Diego Rocha, Emily Rathmell, District 5 City Councilor Robert Case, and Colette Sicotte.

“I am so excited to do this work with these talented performers. They represent so many facets of my life and they all have so much to offer,” said Wresinski. “I have always taught my students to use their art to make a difference. I am hoping to do that with this production.”

“The script calls for very simple staging and very limited technical design. The emphasis is on the storytelling and as a director that is the heart of my work,” said Wresinski, who directs the play with her daughter Teri Shea, as assistant director.

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Sept 11 & Framingham

Seventeen individuals with ties to Framingham died on September 11, 2001. TJX Companies Inc. lost seven employees that day, all of them passengers on American Airlines Flight 11 when it was flown into the World Trade Center in New York City. There is a memorial to the victims of September 11 in Cushing Memorial Park. It features a gazebo, 17 flowering trees with plaques, and a grassy area to represent the lives lost that day.

The 17 people with ties to the City of Framingham were Neilie Heffernan Casey, Barbara Keating, Linda George, Lisa Fenn Gordenstein, Meta Fuller Waller, Laura Lee Morabito, Tara Shea Creamer, Charlie Murphy, Paige Farley Hackel, Judith Larocque, Todd Hill, Christine Barbuto, Susan Mackay, Herbert W. Homer, John J. Wenkus, Robin Kaplan, and Darin H. Pontell.

ATAC & Downtown Framingham

The play is produced by Jannelle Codianni, executive director at Amazing Things Arts Center.

Wresinski said she wanted the play to be a “city-wide event” and not just a Framingham Public School production.

“I love the venue,” said Wresinski, who said she always envisioned the play performed in downtown Framingham.

“The intimacy of Amazing Things and the intimacy of this piece are a perfect match,” said Wresinski.

Another plus is to introduce many in the community to the small theatre on Hollis Street in Framingham.

“I would love to get more people to Amazing Things. Jannelle, the executive director has been a wonderful partner and I am hoping this will be the beginning of several small community shows we can produce there,” said Wresinski.

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