David Guiterrez’ Masterful RETRACTION Looks at Real Life Events that Nearly Damaged a Movement for Change

“If your mother tells you she loves you… check it out,” is the first statement we hear from journalist Wendy Denison (Renata Friedman), ambitious reporter for the popular magazine Heart Rhythm. This stunning declaration immediately sets the tone of uncertainty and discomfort that shadows RETRACTION, a compelling and timely work by David Gutierrez.

The title refers to what Rolling Stone actually found itself having to print in the aftermath of an article they published in November 2014. The piece, “A Rape on Campus,” claimed that a woman had been attacked by several fraternity members as part of an initiation ritual. Discrepancies in the account of that evening led to doubt and finally discredit, leading to lawsuits, and ultimately threatening the very cause the magazine was attempting to champion.

RETRACTION goes backwards and forwards in time to tell a fictionalized version of this event—at the center of which is Lacey (Rachel Resheff), a college student at Carolina Atlantic University. Lacey’s revelations regarding her attack at the Frat House draw the attention of Wendy, who wishes to bring awareness to the epidemic of sexual assault against women, and is supported in this endeavor by her editor Zack (Nathaniel Stampley). Wendy also speaks to Gillian (Bella Serrano), a fellow student and assault survivor, who is a steady presence during the rollercoaster of events that follow. Wendy publishes Lacey’s story in Heart Rhythm, and the article is scathing in its condemnation of the failure of University authorities to address the issue. It’s enough to create widespread outrage and make a Pariah of Carolina Atlantic’s Dean Gasso (Shannon Dorsey), who begins getting death threats for her perceived failure to protect her student.

But it is soon learned that the usually thorough Wendy was blinded by her passion for the cause, and made fundamental mistakes in her reporting. The recollections of the friends that Lacey had run to on the night of the alleged attack do not align with the events as portrayed in the piece. Chief among these is Travis (Charlie Webb), who had failed to reciprocate Lacey’s feelings right before she went on the date with the junior that ended in the attack she describes; along with Chris (Carson McCalley) and Melissa (Eliana Rowe), Wendy had failed to fact check with him or get any information from or regarding the alleged perpetrators. Lacey claims abandonment by all her friends, accusing them of words and actions that they later vehemently deny Add to that a competing reporter Victor (also McCalley) who suspects that things are not what they seem, plus Lacey’s subsequent admission that she felt her story “was true at the time,” and the situation implodes to the point where the movement to identify and stop rampant sexual abuse is in itself in danger.

The cast are collectively compelling in these difficult roles, with Friedman and Resheff anchoring with intensity and a command of their difficult roles. All the others deftly play dual parts…a podcaster, reporters, and lawyers who are all woven into the storyline. The stark set design by Julian van Haubrich complements the production well, with its white office tables, towering street lights and rolling chairs that at one powerful moment are rolled across the stage by the actors under the harsh, interrogation room -like lighting (by Adrien Yuen).

Under the expert guidance of director Caroline Fairweather and with the skillful writing by Guiterrez, RETRACTION handles an extremely delicate issue with sensitivity and without condemnation. It is never implicitly stated that Lacey is lying; it’s made clear in the narrative that PTSD could be affecting her memory of what was a very real assault. Were there 6 guys or 4? Was it dark or could she see them? Was the blood on her dress not there at all, or just too subtle for her friends to notice? Though the real truth (or at least the truth within Wendy and Lacey’s fictional story) is never arrived at in RETRACTION, what we know to be at fault here is the careless reporting that was certainly in evidence in the real life situation, which impacted many lives and ended up putting the safety of women on campus and beyond at further risk. It is a powerful and necessary reminder that these issues must be handled carefully and delicately, both in art and in life. RETRACTION doesn’t provide easy answers, but it will leave one determined to ask the right questions.

RETRACTION runs at the The Shiner Theatre at The Sheen Center for Thought and Culture through January 31, 2026.