Cyclorama

Trust Exercise meets The Interestings in this poignant story of ten teenagers brought together by a high school production of The Diary of Anne Frank--a production that will shape and influence the rest of their lives.

In an Evanston, Illinois magnet high school in 1982, a group of high schoolers meet to audition for the spring play, excited for the chance to escape the difficulties of their everyday lives. Declan, a senior and an experienced actor, is confident he'll get his first-choice role, but when the capricious, charismatic drama director casts Franklin, an unknown underclassman instead--and the two are seen alone at the director's house--the complex series of events that will haunt the cast for years begins to unfold.

By 2016, thirty-four years after the traumatic events of their high school play, the actors have moved on with their lives. Some are wildly successful, some never left their hometown, and some just want to be left alone. Everything will change, however, when one former member of their cast comes forward with an allegation dating back to the time of the play. The consequences of this public revelation will be far-reaching and complex, reverberating through all of their lives in unexpected ways.

Cyclorama is a deeply insightful and compelling story of ordinary people, and Adam Langer's down-to-earth style brilliantly cuts to the core of what makes us who we are and how our pasts--both personal and global--resonate into our present and future. With remarkable tenderness and humanity, Langer reveals how the traumas of our youth continue to echo throughout our lives, in our politics, in our careers, and in our selves.