Department Chair
E.J. Westlake

Artistic Director
Mandy Fox

Producer and Production Manager
Sherée Greco

Director
J. Briggs Cormier

Intimacy Director
Paitton Lewis

Scenic Designer and Properties Designer
Jack MacGregor

Costume Designer
Jeremy D Quick

Lighting Designer
Evan Lane

Sound Designer
Bob Pike

Media Designer
Rufus ZaeJoDaeus

Production Technical Director
Chad R. Mahan

Production Stage Manager
Claire Pennington

Dramaturgs
Grace Bryant, Juanita Mejia Restrepo

Production Electrician
Gabe Willenberg

Assistant Production Electrician
Matt Henry

Assistant Stage Manager
Joe Blair

External Relations and Publicity Coordinator
J. Briggs Cormier

Ticketing Services and Audience Services Specialist
Julia Buttermore

Business Operations Manager
Dev Singer

Graphic Design
Biaggio Bican

Staff Technical Director
Chris Zinkon

Scenic Studio Manager
Chad R. Mahan

Scenic Studio Teaching Associates
Kaitlyn Crosby, Jack MacGregor, Megan Wells

Scenery Construction Crew
Ben Ault, John Baniak, Ella Barberic, Sally Dempsey, Grace Dicus, Morgan Eisenbraun, Sisi Fan, Matthew Fisher, Matt Henry, Kara Hill, Camryn Jagodzinski, Sabrina Li, Loki, Liu, Chaz Mankin, Sarvesh Perumal, Jack Rineer, Othman Shuri, Adrianna Tenney, Kamryn Wechter, Gabe Willenberg, Joey Young

Scenic Run Crew
Rida Alamoudi, Othman Shuri

Costume Studio Manager
Coco Mayer

Costume Studio Teaching Associate
Alexis Miller, Jeremy D Quick

Costume Construction Crew
Ella Barberic, Cale Bishop, Aurora Buchau, Shay Cecil-Lott, Max Cerny, Keshabi Dhimal, Hannah Ding, Miriam Frank, Maddie Green, Chloe Krensky, Molly Lenko, Grey Lynsky, Othman Shuri, Corinne Stevens, Dionysia Thompson, Mateo Zevallos

Wardrobe Crew
 Stepanit Readdae, Dionysia Thompson

Lighting Studio Manager and Production Electrician
Eric M. Slezak

Lighting Studio Teaching Associates
Sarah Herkert, Evan Lane, Robbie Wilt

Lighting Crew
Amabelle Chan, Conan Chan, Ethan Collins, Sally Dempsey, Sisi Fan, Miriam Frank, Sam Hicks-Jirkans, Cayli Lee, Ruth Luketic, Letitia Wang, Amelia Whitley

Light Board Operator
Leah Pfefferle

Sound and Media Studio Manager
Keya Myers-Alkire

Sound Crew
Craig Foulkrod, Grace French, Loki Liu, Ruth Luketic, Ari Vezdos

Sound Board Operator
Joshua Crawford

Media Teaching Associate
Rufus ZaeJoDaeus

Student Ticket Seller Supervisor
Brenda Ramos Perez

Box Office Staff
Gracy Frea, Yareni Velazquez Garcia, Kendall McNutt, Sophie Reynolds, Shavonna Simpson, Logan Thomas

House Managers
Shavonna Simpson
 

Nyle Atiq (voiceover), sophomore
Pronouns: he/him
Hometown: Centerville, OH
Major(s): biology
Department Productions: 1st department production

Joe Blair (asst. stage manager), senior
Pronouns: he/him
Hometown: Toledo, OH
Major(s): psychology; theatre
Department Productions: 1st department production

Grace Bryant (dramaturg), graduate student
Hometown: North Manchester, IN
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: 1st department production

Matt Henry (asst. production electrician), senior
Pronouns: he/him
Hometown: Cincinnati, OH
Major(s): air transportation
Minor(s): theatre
Department Productions: Silent Sky; The Moors; After the Blast

Evan Lane (lighting designer), graduate student
Hometown: Sound Beach, NY
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: After the Blast

Jack MacGregor (scenic and properties designer), graduate student
Hometown: Denison, IA
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: 1st department production

Lauren Meadows (Mrs. Gastrock voice over), senior
Pronouns: she/her
Hometown: Akron, OH
Major(s): choral music education; theatre
Department Productions: After the Blast

Juanita Mejia Restrepo (dramaturg), graduate student
Pronouns: she/her
Hometown: Medellin, Colombia
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: 1st department production

Claire Pennington (production stage manager), senior
Hometown: Batavia, OH
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: The Squirrels

Bob Pike (sound designer), graduate student
Pronouns: he/him
Hometown: Orlando, FL
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: The Squirrels

Jeremy D Quick (costume designer), graduate student
Hometown: Westerville, OH
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: 1st department production

Kalee Sribanditmongkol (Mara), junior
Pronouns: she/her
Hometown: Columbus, OH
Major(s): music education; theatre
Department Productions: Silent Sky; Orlando; The Squirrels

Klaire Weinroth (Dell), junior
Pronouns: she/her
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
Major(s): strategic communication; threatre
Department productions: The Moors

Gabe Willenberg (production electrician), graduate student
Pronouns: he/him
Hometown: Hilliard, OH
Major(s): mechanical engineering
Department Productions: After the Blast

Rufus ZaeJoDaeus (media designer), graduate student
Hometown: Logan, UT
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: After the Blast

Acute Exposure prompts self-reflection on the causes that move individuals and the world. As the play progresses, the two high schoolers Dell and Mara draw on La Cueva de las Manos, the Rosetta Stone, Beowulf, and Astronomy to work through their feelings of conviction, community, and identity. Their primary concern is with communicating to future generations a risk that lies 2,150 feet underground. Although fictional, the play addresses a real issue affecting the Earth that has been long ignored: the nuclear waste that has been collected and stored in New Mexico for more than 25 years will actually remain in the world forever.

The setting of Acute Exposure in the outskirts of Carlsbad, NM, the largest desert in North America, places the characters near the Waste Isolated Pilot Plant, situating Dell and Mara in a location where they can expand their vision. As they express concerns about how future generations will be affected by and be informed of this waste, the characters reference and are inspired by resilient examples of human expression. At school, Dell and Mara learn about La Cueva de las Manos, an Argentinian cave of painted handprints and other illustrations created between 13,000 and 9,500 years ago. Similarly, the pair reference other significant texts, such as the manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf, speculated to have been written between 900 and 1100 CE and the Rosetta Stone, carved in 196 BCE. These objects, alongside persistent myths that surround the constellations, illustrate how human language and storytelling transcend centuries. Overall, the play’s intertextual references exemplify how humans have the power to impact the world for centuries to come, for good or for ill. 

As The Ohio State University joins in the 7th installation of the Earth Matters Onstage Festival, it is easy to see how each chosen play throughout the years highlights humans’ positive and not-so-positive impacts on the world. Larry Loebell’s play Girl Science, performed at the 2004 EMOS Festival, features a scientist devoting her life to researching a river in Pennsylvania that her father’s coal mining company polluted. Chantal Bilodeau investigates in her 2012 EMOS play Sila the ripple effect of humans on the Arctic Circle and its animal inhabitants. August Hakvaag’s Acute Exposure adds to the catalog their play about humans’ lasting impact on the earth through dangerous nuclear waste and art. 

We invite you, the audience, after watching the play, to discover the cause that moves you and find the mark you want to leave in the world.

There will be a post-performance conversation with the playwright, August Hakvaag, on Thursday, March 5th.

This production makes use of haze and smoke effects.