'After Orlando' performances honor victims of Pulse massacre

Thump-thump, thump-thump.

A pulse is a sign that you have air in your lungs and that you are alive.

But a pulse is not just a sign of life. For some, it is a memory of a tragedy.

On June 12, 49 people were killed and 53 people were injured in the shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. 

To honor and remember the victims of the shooting, an international theater movement called "After Orlando" was formed. 

There are 70 plays written in total for the "After Orlando" shows and 18 of them were performed by PlayMakers Repertory Company with the Kenan Theater Company, Little Green Pig Theatrical Concern and Black Ops Theater Company on Nov. 28. 

Jerry Ruiz, associate artistic director for PlayMakers Repertory Company, said these plays are written as an emotional response to what happened in Orlando. 

“This is a good opportunity to come together and show support for the LGBTQ community,” Ruiz said.

The plays reflected different perspectives of what happened in Orlando and the aftershocks in the community.

Ash Heffernan, a producing director at KTC, said she hoped this performance would reach an audience outside of those who usually go to PlayMakers productions. 

“The ways these stories are crafted, you have to look these stories in the face — you can’t distance yourself from it,” Heffernan said.

Heffernan said he hoped people would realize that this is not just a sensational news story, but this is something that we all have lived through.

Amber Martinez, an audience member from Hillsborough, North Carolina, said she was impacted by the play “I Hear Gunshots.” 

“I Hear Gunshots” was a minute-by-minute reading of the police logs from callers in the attic, bathroom and closets in Pulse. These calls recorded cries of frightened and injured people and the striking silence on the other end of the phone after a bone chilling shot was fired.

“It really hit me just how long it was,” Martinez said.

In “Dance On,” a play written by Ian Rowlands and performed by Emily Pike and Caitlin Wells, the characters emphasized the dignity of keeping these people alive by reading their names.

“Each name, a pulse, a heartbeat, beating still. You are not dead, whose names can be read and remembered,” Wells said.

The silence that comes in the morning can be louder than the gunshots.

Christine Mirzayan, reading "Sauce" by Sung Rno, said “I feel like we need more than a hashtag but what?” 

"After Orlando" is encouraging the nation to come face-to-face with the harsh reality of what happened.

It’s important for the nation to unite, be more than a hashtag, break the silence and stand together.

There is a pulse that runs deep, not just in Orlando, but through this nation.

Thump-thump, thump-thump.

@jordankatlyn97

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