The lights dimmed as the crowd waited in anticipation on opening night of the play, “Whose Life is it Anyway?” As the first scene began, the audience was exposed to a broad view of three sets, each showing a different location in a hospital.
The opening scene takes place in Claire Harrison’s hospital room. The play is centered around Claire, a sculptor who was in an automobile accident and is paralyzed from the neck down. She is determined to be allowed to die and the play follows her along in this pursuit.
Lauren Schreiber, a junior English and secondary education major, played the role of Claire and was very pleased with the outcome of the opening night. She credited her cast mates with the success of the show.
“Claire herself had so many facets and it took the whole crew to bring it out,” Schreiber said. “She is dependent on every character that came into her life, as I was dependent on every person in the cast. I couldn’t have done anything without each and every one of them.”
Dr. Thomas Stretton Jr., assistant professor of education and director of the play, was proud of the cast and the outcome on opening night. “I feel that the cast did a terrific job of confronting the play’s challenges and telling Claire Harrison’s story on opening night,” Stretton said.
The cast, consisting of 14 students, gave strong performances and quickly covered any minor mistakes that were barely noticeable throughout their performances.
Jessica Bailey, a senior elementary and special education major, played the role of Margaret Hill. Bailey wanted to be involved in the play during her last year at Cabrini and credited much of the success of opening night to Stretton.
“He gave the theater a needed makeover and provided all of us in the cast with the confidence to put on a great show,” Bailey said.
