The Department of Theatre, Film, and Media Arts is hosting the EMOS Ecodrama Playwrights' Festival and Symposium in March 2026. The winning play, Acute Exposure by August Hakvaag, will be produced as part of the department's mainstage season. The Plume by Maggie Kearnan, the second-place script, will receive a staged reading during the symposium.
Earth Matters on Stage (EMOS) was founded by Theresa May and Larry Fried in 2004. EMOS is a consortium of artists, educators, activists, and scholars who believe that theatre and the performing arts must respond to the environmental crisis. EMOS calls forth and fosters new dramatic work and performances that help us re-imagine our human place in a more-than-human world.
At the heart of EMOS is the Ecodrama New Play Contest, which calls playwrights and theatre makers to engage in the global and local ecological issues that face societies across cultures.
The concurrent EMOS Symposium fosters dialogue about the intersection of environment, culture, and performance.
The festival is co-chaired by graduate students Joshua Lewis and Paitton Lewis.
The symposium schedule is still being developed. Additional information will be posted as soon as it's available.
March 5
March 6
March 7
August Hakvaag (they/them) is a butch theatre artist currently based in Philadelphia. They received a BA in Theatre, and are currently pursuing a Graduate Certificate in Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies, from Temple University. They have worked internationally as an actor, director, and playwright. They are a Princess Grace Fellowship Award semi-finalist, a Susan Smith Blackburn Prize nominee, and a proud member of the Ring of Keys Collective. Highlights include working with Moxie Arts NY, The Palace Collective, Philadelphia Young Playwrights, The Twenty Sided Tavern, Impulse Control Freaks, Richmond Triangle Players, Tokyo International Players, and Aporia Artists Collective, of which they are a founding member. Most recently, their immersive piece A Seance for Mae West enjoyed a sold out run at the Hot Bed Art Studio in Philadelphia. Currently, they can be heard on the award-winning podcast Wing Women as Nino. They are finishing their second year of the PlayPenn Foundry program, where they are working on a play about superconductive electricity.
2018 Rain and Zoe Save the World by Crystal Skillman
2015 Thirst by MEH Lewis and Anita Chandwaney
2012 Sila by Chantal Bilodeau
2009 Song of Extinction by EM Lewis
2004 Odin's Horse by Rob Koon