Casey Rohrer is a familiar sight to the civically inclined Hermosan; earlier this year, he helped dedicate the newly opened South Park. But this Saturday night, the community will have a chance to see him in a place they might not expect: starring in a play he wrote.
The Hermosa resident and high school freshman suffers from cerebral palsy, but he has not let it hold him back: Casey writes and communicates with an eye-tracking device called a Tobii. And over the past year he has put the Tobii through its paces, penning “Once Upon a Road Trip,” which will show for one night only this Saturday, at the Hermosa Community Theater at 7 p.m.
Craig Greely, a Hermosa resident and the president and CEO of Family Theater Inc., which is putting on the show, said that the play grew out of his experience with Casey during a previous play. After seeing him in the audience at several previous Family Theater productions, Greely offered Casey the role of the Silent King in “Once Upon a Mattress.” (Once the character was magically granted speech, Casey used his Tobii to deliver his lines with aplomb, Greely recalled.) Several months later, Greely received an email from Casey with the beginnings of what would become “Once Upon a Road Trip.”
The story emerged out of experiences from Casey’s life. On the one hand, he said he has been acting ever since he and his Tobii were “introduced” in the second grade, using it to play The Mirror in “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.” But on occasions where he is without it, such as when travelling, he can feel voiceless. So he combined the experiences of acting and travelling into a play.
“We were planning a trip to Yellowstone, so before we went, my tutor told me to write a play about it and perform it while we were there. We found an outdoor stage and did that during the trip with my grandparents. It was very fun!” Casey said.
Casey e-mailed the script to Greely, who said he was blown away.
Eventually, Greely connected Casey with Angelo Michael Masino, a local playwright. Masino worked with Casey, and the two eventually turned his original idea into a fully formed, one-act play with a script of about 40 pages.
Casey’s mother Beth Rohrer said that her son has long had an interest in playwriting, and has a knack for encapsulating people’s personalities. Masino dedicated extensive time to the project, she said, and helped her son develop as a playwright.
“[Casey] learned so much from him about building out a story and helping it have a guiding idea for the audience to understand,” Rohrer said.
Masino continued working with Casey during the production process, serving as director while Casey helped cast the show, and made suggestions to the actors during rehearsals.
Casey’s dramaturgical insights occasionally surprised the crew. During an early script reading, Casey interrupted Bill Goldman, a longtime actor performing the role of Slim.
“In middle of it, we hear Casey say, ‘More Texas accent,’” Greely recalled. “He’s giving Bill, this professional actor, advice to go deeper in the accent. And it worked.”
