Sara Witter, Marisa Giachetti, Jennifer Suter, Jessica Pearson, Alex Reitter, Liz Carlin, Natalie Fabien, Jenna Moschella, Ethan Abrams, Alec Skwara, Paul Rahter and Jimmy Kenna surround Justin Giachetti on the set of his play “Inferno.” (Photo by Suzette J. Lucas.)
By Nicole DeMentri
At 20-years old, Justin Giachetti has compiled an impressive resume as an actor, producer, writer and director. It’s a good thing, too, since the Robbinsville High School graduate and junior at Rider University has had to utilize and master all of these roles to put on his new production about sin titled, Inferno: A New Work About Sin.
The play, which ran Aug. 14-16 at the Open Arts Stage in Bordentown, dabbles in each of the seven deadly sins through controversial tropics and conversations. Giachetti who wrote and directed the show, can also be seen as portraying “Gluttony.” Characters for example can be seen battling “Lust” through prostitution or “Wrath” from difficulties suffering from mental illness.
“People see the seven deadly sins as big, terrifying things that we need to stay away from, but I looked at it as being just human nature,” Giachetti said. “No human can be on this earth without succumbing at some point to one of the sins. I’ve been obsessed with the idea of the sins for a while now and that’s why I wrote this.”
Inspiration for this play came from personal experiences and controversial issues in the news. His own character came through experiences his family has dealt with through eating disorders.
One of Giachetti’s closest friends, Jenna Moschella played the part of Erin, who is battling envy and carries out a deadly school shooting in the play. Giachetti got inspiration for her character after the two discussed a school shooting and what drives someone to that point.
“I got the script and read it, and every time I did I was going ‘Oh yup, there’s my life and there it is again.’ … As far as the school shooting went, it was a weird thing to imagine doing and definitely you never expect to be in,” said Moschella, a 20-year old junior at Rider.
What Giachetti really wants the audience to find is something relatable in the storyline. Although it seems things as extreme as prostitution, gangs, rape, abuse and shootings could be, Giachetti said everyone should find something to identify with.
Back in November, Giachetti listed a brief summary about his work on a website called backstage.com to attract actors. He didn’t think anyone would apply, but to his disbelief he received over 1,000 submissions from actors around the area.
It was a two-month long process to find the right fit for his nine characters, and he ended up only knowing three of them prior to the audition process. The next couple of weeks were spent in workshops understanding, ripping apart and rewriting the script, which was “unrecognizable from the beginning of this process to the end.”
“Justin got the script to a point where it was just really good as a whole and perfected it through the workshops and the cast reading it through,” said Jimmy Kenna, a graduate of Robbinsville High School who plays the part of the devil in Inferno.
Giachetti’s twin sister Marisa, 20, was a part of this process since the very beginning about two years ago. She has been by his side acting, dancing and singing since they were children in numerous musicals and plays.
“Justin’s love for theater started when we’d have family functions, and we’d go in our basement where he’d direct a show with all of our cousins and we would put a show on for our family every single time we got together,” she said.
Giachetti started performing and wasn’t satisfied, feeling that he needed more through theater. Thus, he began to write and direct. Through his time at Robbinsville High School, Giachetti had wrote a couple of short plays that were produced, alongside starring in the school’s productions. He found his love for writing through a creative writing class he took and perfected it through a conservatory he attended in France when he was just 17.
At Rider University, he has wrote more short plays and directed a film, but never directed and wrote something as large as Inferno.
“It just all goes hand-in-hand when you talk about performing arts,” Giachetti said. “I think dipping your toe into different pools really helps you kind of almost be stable. For me I never felt just quite satisfied with doing just one.”
Giachetti funded the play through a fundraiser that netted him $750, and with help from his father. He paid for the rest out of pocket. He will be donating the ticket sales from the August showing to the National Eating Disorders Association after paying his actors.
The support Giachetti has gotten from his cast, crew and family is overwhelming, he said. Both of his parents helped throughout the August performances by working the box office and the concession stands. His sister worked both behind the scenes before acting in the show after an actor had to drop out.
“Theater is Justin’s way to communicate the problems in our society and what needs to change by spreading the message…I definitely did not expect something lie this from a 20-year old, especially my brother. It is so mature and well written. I am so proud of him,” Marisa said.
Giachetti said he hopes to put on more performances of “Inferno” at Rider University in the winter using the same actors. He plans on writing and directing more of his own productions in the future. After graduation, he wants to open up his own theater company with the friends he made at Rider and the actors he worked with throughout his life. At the same time, he also wants to audition for professional productions on Broadway.
For now, he will continue as the news director for his college radio station, 107.7FM the Bronc, and act, write and direct shows.
For more information, go online to facebook.com/infernonewplay.
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