Memories of disaster

Bastrop playwright examines 2011 wildfire

BASTROP — A local college student is bringing the story of the Bastrop County Complex Fire to the stage, using his university thesis to explore how communities remember and rebuild after disaster.

Bastrop native and University of Texas at Austin senior Aaron Sullivan will present a public reading of his play, “The Lost Pines,” nearly 15 years after the 32,000-acre blaze tore through the county. The free reading March 7 at the Bastrop Opera House, 711 Spring St., pulls from an early version of Sullivan’s work and examines the 2011 Complex Fire through archival material, interviews and his own childhood memories.