May 14, 2021
Cornell poet’s play “Trap Door” opens an aperture into Ithaca history
By Kate Blackwood
“Trap Door,” a “headphone walking play” that opens May 20 in downtown Ithaca, invites audiences to notice the streets they travel, said Cornell poet Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon.
“Meandering these streets, one might happen upon a landmark site or a name easily recognized. But how many stories go untold? Which ones have slipped into gaps in history? What place do such silences hold in shaping a community?” said Van Clief-Stefanon, associate professor of literatures in English and lead writer of the play. “‘Trap Door offers an aperture: one the walking play format encourages us to pass through, allowing us to see our surroundings in a new light.”