American Theater Company Announces Casting for columbinus

American Theater Company announces the world premiere of the revised version of columbinus, written by Stephen Karam and PJ Paparelli, with dramaturgy by Patricia Hersch, and conceived and directed by Artistic Director PJ Paparelli. The 2013 production will premiere a revised second act devised from recent interviews with survivors, families of victims and residents of Littleton. The new material includes never-before-released information on the shooters and their families and first-hand accounts of both the Columbine and Aurora shootings. columbinus will run February 1 – March 10, 2013, at American Theater Company, 1909 W Byron St, Chicago, IL. Press opening is Wednesday, February 6, at 7:00 pm.

Littleton, Colorado. 1999. Two teenagers devastate a community and shock the country when they walk into their suburban high school and kill twelve students and one teacher. Based on interviews with teenagers across the country and survivors and community members in Littleton, this haunting drama takes a hard look at modern teenagers through the lens of the most infamous high school shooting in American history. Artistic Director PJ Paparelli returns to Littleton, CO ten years later to conduct new interviews and add additional material to what Variety described, "This one comes straight from the gut…highly theatrical and deeply disturbing."

"Folks who didn't want to talk before because of lawsuits or their healing process, now have all opened up." said Paparelli about the recent interviews. "I was shocked at what I heard; and am glad that theater will be the vehicle to get this information out to the world."

The cast includes Matt Bausone (Freak/Eric Harris), Rammel Chan (AP), Rob Fenton (Prep), Eric Folks (Loner/Dylan Klebold), Leah Karpel (Faith), Aaron J. Nelson (Jock), Kelly O'Sullivan (Perfect), and Sadieh Rifai (Rebel).