For 4th weekend, protesters gather at Children's Theatre Company
Updated: June 25, 11:35 a.m. | Posted: June 22, 4:39 p.m.
For the fourth weekend in a row, protesters gathered in front of the Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis on Saturday.
The protesters first gathered in response to the news that the Children's Theatre Company had filed claims against an assault survivor in order to recoup legal expenses.
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The theater company has since dropped those claims and apologized to survivor Laura Stearns. Representatives of Children's Theatre say their application "asked the court to determine an appropriate amount for costs but did not ask that it assign responsibility for paying that amount."
Erin Nanasi, another assault survivor, said she plans to keep protesting.
She said she's waiting until the Children's Theatre's management apologizes in a way that doesn't feel sanctimonious.
"I will be satisfied when their actions match their words," said Nanasi. "And so far that has not happened — it's never happened."
The Children's Theatre's management has promised to donate the proceeds of a single performance of the musical "Matilda" to a nonprofit that helps survivors.
Nanasi said she would like to see the company create a fund for survivors.
"I have friends who are dead — from either suicide or addiction — because of what happened to them at that school," Nanasi said. "I'm a survivor of suicide attempts — I know so many other people who have self-harmed or become addicted and it's just... we carry what happened to us then, now."
Sixteen people have brought civil suits against the Children's Theatre Company.
Children's Theatre management has said it will work toward settlements with the survivors.