Rosebud Theatre’s The Amish Project: surprising empathy
By Laureen F. Guenther Times Contributor
Photo Courtesy of Rosebud Theatre
The play begins with a little Amish girl, played by Esther Koepnick, explaining to the audience about the letters she’s excitedly learning to print. Then her sister, played by Anna Dalgliesh, floats through the room, delighting in what she sees as she flies above her family and community.
Throughout the show, the four female actors portray seven characters and their points of view on the girls’ shooting. Their costume changes between characters are slight, but their skilled acting and the well-written dialogue, unique for each character, made it believable they’d become that different person.
Early on in the play, the characters seemed so disparate, I wasn’t sure what was going on. Were any of the little Amish girls still alive? What did they have to do with the pregnant, 16-year-old grocery cashier? And how did any of them connect with the gunman’s angry, grieving widow, played by Kelsey Krogman? But as the play progressed, the characters moved closer to each other and, it seemed, closer to us in the audience. I began to see how intertwined and even overlapping these peoples’ lives had become.
Then, as they overlapped, I began to feel something I hadn’t known I was missing: empathy for the gunman’s widow.
Long ago, I’d read about this school shooting, and I’d felt sorrow for the Amish families and the loss of their children. I’d read about the Amish people’s amazing response, as they extended grace and kindness to the gunman’s widow. I’d applauded their actions and hoped I’d respond the same way if I faced a similar situation.
But as I watched this play I realized I hadn’t let my heart care for the shooter’s widow.
As I watched The Amish Project, I began to enter into the broken heart of this woman, and into the lost and wounded hearts of her young sons. I wondered where they went in life after the shooting. I wondered how they could go on at all. And I began to sense their heartache as if I were there in their home.
Then I experienced a response that surprised me even more: I developed empathy for the gunman himself, played by Heidi Susanne MacDonald.
No, I don’t sympathize with his actions. I certainly don’t tolerate what he did and I don’t say he couldn’t help it. But I understand what his widow meant when she said, “He had a darkness he couldn’t push down.”
The Amish Project is a story for our time, a story for all time. We need its empathy for those who are different than we are, and we need its understanding for those who are just like us.
The Amish Project plays on Rosebud’s Studio Stage until Sept. 1. Get tickets at rosebudtheatre.com or 1-800-267-7553.