NORMAL - Parts of a new theatrical piece being performed at Illinois State University this weekend should sound familiar to any Pantagraph.com readers in the audience, especially those who read comments. | ISU filmmakers document Pontiac prison fight

The Pantagraph's stories - and the reader comments posted on each article - about two attacks on female students in February play a central role in the 40-minute piece, called "Intersections."

In a 6-minute segment called "Racism: Not in Our Town," a student actor reads part of a Pantagraph story while two others interject with some of the comments posted below that story, said director, ISU alumna and staff member Annaliisa M. Ahlman.

The segment specifically addresses posted comments that refer to the suspect's race, and related comments about the Twin Cities. (The name of the segment refers to the community's yearslong anti-racism efforts, as seen on street signs on the edge of town.)

"Many of the comments failed to mention the survivors or the crimes at all, focusing instead on the race of the alleged perpetrator …" the organizers wrote in the program note.

Ahlman said the ensemble, which wrote the piece, also noted the intensity of the dialogue between largely anonymous commenters who returned again and again to reply to other readers.

"That struck us as something that was interesting," Ahlman said. "That seemed raw, that seemed real."

To post reader comments on Pantagraph.com, users must register using a valid e-mail address and create their own user name. Comments are moderated by staff based on rules establishing acceptable use.

More than 160 comments were posted on the stories about the Feb. 12 and Feb. 19 attacks on or near campus and the arrest of Joseph Primm, 17, of Normal, who is black. Primm, who is being held at the McLean County jail, faces aggravated criminal sexual assault, home invasion, burglary and armed robbery charges.

The comments are read as written during the play but are rearranged for narrative effect, Ahlman said. The user names of the authors are not used, she said.

Other parts of "Intersections" - made up of poetry, short plays and other material - address other issues, such as a gender discrimination and substance abuse, Ahlman said. The play is part of the Women's Project at ISU, a creative group that began in 2001 in the School of Theatre, according to its Web site.

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GO!

What: "Intersections: Sticks and stones may break my bones but my words will rise about you," a student production of the Women's Project at Illinois State University.

Where: Centennial West building, 301.

When: Remaining performances, 7:30 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday.

Who: Actors, Brianne Hornback, Trevor Neff and Claire Small are undergraduate theatre majors at ISU. Director, Annaliisa M. Ahlman, ISU alumna.

On the Web: http://www.womenstudies.ilstu.edu