They Walk Among Us is a one-act play written by Nicholas O'Neill, the youngest victim of the Station nightclub fire, a 2003 blaze that claimed the lives of 100 people in West Warwick, Rhode Island.
[2] The play deals with issues of grief and loss, as well as the search for meaning in the human existence, and features characters who are "guardian angels," all of whom were apparently teenagers who died young.
These angels are Levi, the leader, who is an ancient spirit and extremely orderly; Grace, an empathic and overachieving young woman; and Cyrus, a wisecracking rebel.
Scene Eight takes Adam back to Mama Marie, who reveals to him the full extent of her powers by physically describing the angels who appeared to him at the beach.
[2] Shortly after the fire, members of his family remembered the play but were unable to locate any copies of it until one of his friends, Emily Kunkel, produced one after cleaning out her closet.
The play's message is that although tragedies occur and life is full of trials, it is crucial that people never lose hope in themselves, in God's love, or in the possibility of a higher purpose behind human existence.
[2] The first two-stage incarnations of the play - a staged reading performed in June 2003 and a full production in February 2004, the one year anniversary of the fire - and the feature film version were all directed by O'Neill's brother, Christian.