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.
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
The Short North Arts District, located south of Ohio State, is a great place for dining and shopping. This trendy neighborhood also has several hotels and art galleries.
If you're looking to stay on campus, you can do so at Ohio State's very own Blackwell Inn.
Another nearby option, Springhill Suites, has a complimentary shuttle to campus.
There are several restaurants and hotels near the Shops on Lane Avenue.
Symposium Schedule
Registration for the symposium is free and does not include tickets for the production of Acute Exposure. Tickets may be purchased through the Department of Theatre, Film, and Media Arts Box Office.
Seating at individual sessions and performances of The Plume is limited and is first come, first served.
All sessions held in the Theatre, Film, and Media Arts Building (1934 College Road) unless otherwise noted.
5:00 - 6:00pm
Reception
Location: Lobby
6:00 - 7:00pm
Keynote Address
Speaker: Bethany Hughes
Location: Proscenium Theatre
7:30pm
Acute Exposure
Location: Blackbox Theatre
Followed by post-performance discussion with the playwright.
10:00 - 11:00am
Conversation with Bethany Hughes
Location: 4th Floor Kitchenette
2:30 - 4:30pm
"Lost Waters - Virtual Reality Event"
Presented by Emma Kline through The Living Art and Ecology Lab
Location: Living Art and Ecology Lab (340 Hopkins Hall)
Lost Waters is a creative research project investigating the disappearance of Neil Run, a stream which vanished from Ohio State campus maps in the 1890s when it was buried beneath the South Oval Lawn to make way for development--a common story for waterways in urban areas. See what the South Oval and Mirror Lake Hollow might have looked like 100 years ago through a virtual reconstruction of the space.
Seating for this event is limited. Please sign up for a slot if you wish to attend.
5:00 - 8:00pm
Film Screening and Talkback
Location: Screening Room (Room 380)
Screening of environmentally themed films including Groundworks, Lamentation at the Liesbeek, and Exposing Why Farmers Can't Legally Plant Their Own Seeds.
There will be a talkback following the screening with the creators of Lamentation at the Liesbeek (Micha Espinosa, Sara Matchett, and Janaki Cedanna) and Exposing Why Farmers Can’t Legally Plant Their Seeds (Gregor Čavlović). Additionally, Following the screening of Groundworks, Ian Garrett and Justine Garrett will offer a brief reflective talk on developing non-extractive media practices as settler creators working in relationship with Indigenous artists, communities, and land. Drawing from the ethical frameworks behind the film, the discussion will consider how consent, authorship, and stewardship can be reimagined in documentary and performance contexts to move away from extractive storytelling and toward reciprocal, accountable creative practice.
The screening is co-sponsored by the Environmental History Initiative.
7:30pm
Acute Exposure
Location: Blackbox Theatre
7:30pm
The Plume
Location: Multipurpose Theatre Lab (Room 435)
10:00 - 11:00am
"Sustainability in Design"
Presenter: Ian Garrett
Location: Room 280
This session invites participants to explore sustainability in design as a creative, material, and ethical practice that responds to environmental crises and reimagines our role in the more-than-human world. Through hands-on, collaborative exercises grounded in real-world design scenarios, participants will surface strategies for integrating ecological values into artistic and built environments in ways that transform both process and outcome.
10:30 - 11:30am
"Vanishing Horizons"
Presenter: Sanyam Bajaj
Location: Room 215
This session invites participants to explore how visual art can hold the emotional weight of climate change and translate it into public meaning and policy imagination. Drawing on Drishya Kala Klima, Sanyam Bajaj’s art-and-policy practice, the session reflects on how images can sustain attention “long enough to act,” and what becomes possible when climate engagement is treated as both aesthetic experience and research. Participants will leave with fresh questions, shared language, and practical inspiration for bridging emotion and action in climate work.
11:00 - noon
"When Water and Oil Mix: A Thirst for the EcoGothic as Ecodramaturgy"
Presenter: Kelly Richmond
Location: Room 210
A tale of corruption, contamination, and even-later stage capitalism, Terry Guest's Thirst: An American Fable (2024) imagines the what-if of oil contamination in the Great Lakes. A disturbing yet delicious drama that plays with conventions of gothic and cli-fi narratives to craft a compelling case for protecting our Great Lakes before it's too late. Richmond will use Thirst to make the case that the ecoG0thic is necessary and compelling mode of ecodramaturgy for tackling the existential dread of climate crisis.
12:30 - 2:00pm
"Using Climate Change Theatre Action Plays in the Classroom and Beyond"
Presenter: Chantal Bilodeau
Location: Rehearsal Room 1 (Room 360)
How can plays with climate issues be used in higher education? Five panelists discuss their experiences working with students and communities to create joyful, empowering events.
2:00 - 3:30pm
"Ecodramaturgy in Practice: A Roundtable on Developing and Performing Climate Stories"
Presenter: Arden Thomas
Location: Room 215
This roundtable gathers theatre makers, dramaturgs, and scholars exploring how eco-dramaturgy shapes new plays, devised performances, and teaching practices. Participants share approaches that link theatre-making with environmental justice, scientific collaboration, and sustainable design to imagine more responsive and resilient artistic futures.
3:30 - 5:30pm
"Playwriting Workshop"
Presenter: August Hakvaag
Location: Room 210
Like a plant growing in a garden, the environment helps shape the people in it. As the ground beneath our feet seems more unsteady than ever, theatre artists are turning more and more towards exploring stories and characters impacted by the modern climate crisis. Join Acute Exposure playwright August Hakvaag for an hour of writing and discussion, focusing on how to bring environmentalism and the climate crisis to the stage. Participants will be given a few prompts to discuss and write about, followed by a Q & A.
7:30pm
Acute Exposure
Location: Blackbox Theatre
7:30pm
The Plume
Location: Multipurpose Theatre Lab (Room 435)
11:00 - 12:30pm
"Kinship Dramaturgies: Site, Spirit, and Sensation in Eco-Theatre Creation"
Presenter: Lydia Fort
Location: Rehearsal Room 1 (Room 360)
This workshop introduces kinship dramaturgy, an eco-theatrical methodology that integrates forest-bathing principles, embodied research, and site-responsive exploration. The session includes guided attention exercises and micro-site explorations to investigate how performance emerges through relational engagement with space, community, and the more-than-human world.
2:30 - 4:00pm
"Staging Climate Emotions: Drama Therapy Approaches in a World in Crisis"
Presenter: Julia Levine
Location: Rehearsal Room 1 (Room 360)
This workshop is for students and educators; activists and artists; and community members--anyone with concern for the state of our world. Through drama therapy techniques and climate psychology practices, participants will identify, express, and connect their climate emotions as part of the larger movement for ecological justice. The workshop draws upon gratitude, mindful movement, and playful interactions to bridge individual healing and collective action, equipping participants with concepts and tools they can bring back to their own settings.
3:00pm
Acute Exposure
Location: Blackbox Theatre
7:30pm
The Plume
Multipurpose Theatre Lab (Room 435)