Cassidy Kepp ’15 Creates a Better World Through Theater
When Cassidy Kepp '15 stepped on stage for Oscar Night her senior year of high school, she could not have predicted where life would take her. As a die-hard drama student, Cassidy acted in many shows at O’Dowd and learned the role of theater in promoting social change.
“After working on Laramie Project, (a play about a gay hate crime), I saw the positive effect the play had on the school and greater community – changing people’s minds and hearts – and knew that was the style of theater I wanted to do,” she said.
Since high school, Cassidy has had her mind set on creating social change again through theater. With Fringe Benefits, a devised theater group, Cassidy wrote and directed productions with homeless women on Skid Row and children in Watts. “Working with people from disadvantaged communities makes the most real theater I know,” she said.
Through this work, Cassidy developed a passion for playwriting and has written three social justice plays with performances in London and Los Angeles. “I hope to make a social change all through the world and I know the best way to do it: Theater,” she said
Cassidy aspires to bring a social justice focus to all aspects of theater. Whether it is administration, playwriting or acting, she always has her eye on creating a voice for the unseen. “I learned invaluable lessons from O’Dowd about social justice and theater. I hope I can combine the two and share them with the world in my senior thesis,” she said.
Cassidy is producing a staged reading of Freezer Burn, a play she wrote about how the justice system handles rape. She hopes that through this play people can gain a deeper understanding of how to treat rape victims. This reading is being held November 9-11 at Foley Theater 110 at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where Cassidy is in her senior year as a Theatre Arts Major.
Cassidy credits O’Dowd teachers Sarah Tunik, Dennis Kohles, Trina Oliver and William McNeil for inspiring her to follow her passion. “I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for them pushing me to my limits, working with me for hours after class, all because they had faith in what I can accomplish. I can never thank O’Dowd enough for that,” she said.
