Presented by the Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Theater & Music Theater
The Amish Project
by Jessica Dickey
The Amish Project is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc.
Run Time
Approximately 70 minutes with no intermission.
Program Notes
The Amish Project explores the aftermath of the 2006 shooting at an Amish schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, a small village in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The play delves into themes of community loss and transcendent forgiveness that continue to resonate today.
Caitlin Durkin ’25 portrays six characters:
- Velda, a 6-year-old Amish victim of the shooting
- Anna, a 14-year-old Amish victim of the shooting
- Carol Stuckey, the non-Amish widow of the gunman
- Bill North, a non-Amish scholar and professor of Amish culture and the spokesperson for the Amish families
- Eddie Stuckey, the non-Amish gunman
- Sherry Local, a non-Amish resident
A seventh character, America, a 16-year-old pregnant grocery clerk, is performed in pre-recorded videos by Sofia Clark ’28.
Content Advisory
This production contains references to gun violence and ideations of sexual assault.
Special Notes
The videotaping or making of electronic or other audio and/or visual recordings of this production and distributing recordings or streams in any medium, including the internet, is strictly prohibited, a violation of the author(s)’s rights and actionable under United States Copyright Law. For more information, please learn more about protecting artists.
No flash photography permitted. Please silence all electronic devices including cellular phones and watches, and refrain from text messaging for the duration of the performance.
Production Credits
The Amish Project was originally presented in the New York International Fringe Festival in association with Nora Productions, and further developed and produced by Cherry Lane Theater, Angelina Fiordellisi, Artistic Director. World premiere produced by Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in association with Nora Productions.
Accessibility
The Wallace Theater is an accessible venue with an assistive listening system. The Saturday, December 7, performance will feature open/live captioning (CART). Visit our Venues and Studios section for accessibility information about our various locations.
Cast
Velda Yoder, Anna Yoder, Carol Stuckey, Eddie Stuckey, Bill North, Sherry Local: Caitlin Durkin ’25*
America: Sofia Clark ’28
Production Team
Costume Design: Keating Helfrich
Lighting Programmer: Kat McLaughlin ’25*
Sound Design: John Wallar ’25*
Projection Design: John Wallar ’25*
Stage Manager: Avi Chesler ’25*
Assistant Stage Manager: Roya Reese ’26
Run Crew: Lucia Colwell ’27
Stage Management Mentor: Vera Fei ’26*
*denotes a student minoring in the Program in Theater & Music Theater
Faculty Advisors
Vivia Font, Faculty Project Mentor
Cat Tate Starmer, Lighting
Tess James, Co-Producer and Lighting Design Advisor
Note from the Project Proposer
I have always been fascinated by single-person shows. To bring a story to life alone on stage strikes me as being the most challenging kind of theater, and having the opportunity to stretch myself as an actor this past semester has been a great adventure.
Thank you to my incredible advisor, Vivia Font, for your mentorship and kindness throughout this entire process. It has truly been a joy working with you. Thank you to my hardworking stage managers, Avi and Roya, for your dedication, helpfulness, and humor. Thank you to all of the amazing LCA staff, faculty, and students for supporting my project. Thank you Mom, Dad, Judy, and Papa for your constant encouragement. I love you. And thank you, Fuzzy Dice, for being awesome.
Caitlin Durkin
Performer
Land Acknowledgement
An estimated 10 million Native Americans lived in North America before the arrival of European colonizers. Many thousands lived in Lenapehoking, the vast homeland of the Lenni-Lenape, who were the first inhabitants of what is now called eastern Pennsylvania and parts of New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware.
Princeton stands on part of the ancient homeland and traditional territory of the Lenape people. In 1756, the College of New Jersey erected Nassau Hall with no recorded consultation with the Lenni-Lenape peoples.
Treaties and forced relocation dispersed Lenape-Delaware to Ohio, Kansas, and Oklahoma. We acknowledge the violence of settler colonialism and pay respect to Lenape peoples past, present, and future and their continuing presence in the homeland and throughout the Lenape diaspora.
For more information about ways you can engage with and support the Indigenous community on campus please visit the website of Native American and Indigenous studies (NAI), Natives at Princeton and Princeton Indigenous Advocacy Coalition.
Lewis Center for the Arts
Chair: Judith Hamera
Executive Director: Marion Friedman Young
Director of Program in Theater and Music Theater: Jane Cox
View a list of Program in Theater & Music Theater faculty & guest artists
For a look at all the people working behind the scenes to bring you this event, view a list of LCA staff members.
The programs of the Peter B. Lewis Center for the Arts are made possible through the generous support of many alumni and other donors. View a list of LCA Supporters
