Wilderness Program

Wilderness

By Seth Bockley and Anne Hamburger

Directed by Mandy Fox

The performance runs one hour and 40 minutes without an intermission.

Setting

High desert of Southern Utah

Cast

Mom
Angelina V. Steshenko

Elizabeth
Anna Sullivan

Sophia/Merritt
Daniella Valdivieso

Chloe/Rebecca
Shannon McCarren

Cole/Corey
Noah Bennett

Michael/Taco
Jalen Carr

Dylan/Billy
Tristan Weathers

Understudy Chloe and Sophia
Chloe Housteau

Understudy Mom and Elizabeth
Brie Sensenstein

Understudy Cole and Michael
Akky Oyagi

Understudy Dylan and Billy
Spencer Carver

Wilderness was created and developed by En Garde Arts (Anne Hamburger, Founder and Executive Producer).

The text is derived from interviews and true stories, and the authors wish to express their appreciation for the generosity of the families whose stories we share.

The use of any recording device, either audio or video, and the taking of photographs, either with or without flash, is strictly prohibited. Please silence your cell phones and pagers prior to the beginning of the performance. In consideration of those seated around you, please refrain from texting during the performance.

Special Thanks

Harry Warner

Rachel McCarren

Noah Bennett (Cole/Corey), graduate student
Hometown: Jacksonville, FL
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: debut

Jalen Carr (Michael/Taco), graduate student
Hometown: Houston, TX
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: debut

Spencer Carver (Understudy Dylan/Billy), sophomore
Hometown: Powell, OH
Major(s): communications
Department Productions: 1st department production

Madeline Denman (choreographer), senior
Hometown: Dayton, OH
Major(s): communication technology; dance
Department Productions: Violet

Jo Fuller (costume designer), graduate student
Hometown: Elgin, SC
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: The Country Wife; Violet

Chloe Housteau (Understudy Chloe/Sophia), senior
Hometown: Youngstown, OH
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: 1st department production

Joshua Lewis (asst. director; dramaturg), graduate student
Hometown: Salt Lake City, UT
Major(s): theatre
Minor(s): cinema/video production
Department Productions: 1st department production

Shannon McCarren (Chloe/Rebecca), graduate student
Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: Debut

Akky Oyagi (Understudy Cole/Michael), senior
Hometown: Worthington, OH
Major(s): theatre
Minor(s): Communication
Department Productions: Men on Boats; Violet

Garrett Ratliff (stage manager), sophomore
Hometown: Plymouth, MI
Major(s): social work
Minor(s): theatre
Department Productions: 1st department production

Brie Sensenstein (Understudy Mom and Elizabeth), 1st-year student
Hometown: Toledo, OH
Major(s): Marketing
Department Productions: 1st department production

Katherine Simon (scenic environment and properties designer), graduate student
Hometown: Columbus, OH
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: 1st department production

Angelina V. Steshenko (Mom), graduate student
Hometown: Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: debut

Anna Sullivan (Elizabeth), 1st-year student
Hometown: Summit, NJ
Major(s): undecided
Minor(s): musical theatre
Department Productions: debut

Daniella Valdivieso (Sophia/Merritt), graduate student
Hometown: Miami, FL
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: debut

Madeline Watson (asst. director), sophomore
Hometown: Columbus, OH
Major(s): linguistics; theatre
Department Productions: The Country Wife; The Seagull; Violet

Tristan Weathers (Dylan), 1st-year student
Hometown: Dayton, OH
Major(s): arts management; theatre
Department Productions: debut

Wilderness is a story that explores the therapeutic aspects of nature and the search for understanding within families. The play's title refers to wilderness therapy, a treatment modality that seeks to resolve behavioral issues in troubled adolescents through reflection and experiential learning in outdoor environments. The playwrights, Seth Bockley and Anne Hamburger, developed the idea for the story from Hamburger's personal experience with her teenage son, who was sent to a wilderness camp to help him work through his struggles with depression and addiction. However, the play is not explicitly based on her son; instead, it is an amalgamation of six families' stories who went through similar experiences.

While wilderness therapy has grown in popularity over the past few decades, its antecedents can be traced back to the nineteenth century. During the colonial period, people often viewed the American wilderness as foreboding and something that needed to be subdued. However, with the emergence of romanticism and transcendentalism, people's attitudes toward nature gradually shifted; over time, they started to acknowledge that it had an inexplicable beauty and a restorative quality. Authors such as James Fenimore Cooper (The Last of the Mohicans) and Henry David Thoreau (Walden) highlighted the benefits of connecting with nature and leaving overcrowded and polluted cities. In the ensuing century, this concept was put into practice with treatments such as "tent therapy" (an experimental method that used camps set up outside psychiatric hospitals to improve patients' mental attitudes and outlooks) and the proliferation of summer camps specifically targeting behavioral problems in adolescents. Additionally, non-profit educational organizations, such as Outward Bound, helped to legitimize wilderness therapy by incorporating more structure and demonstrating its efficacy through systematic study.

Today, there are hundreds of wilderness therapy camps operating throughout the country (although they are predominately situated in the western half of the country, particularly in Utah). While these programs differ in subtle ways, they are commonly informed by two key concepts: social learning theory and systems theory. Social learning theory proposes that behaviors are learned through observation and imitating others. Typically, wilderness therapy entails field staff leading patients through outdoor recreational activities to instill a sense of self-efficacy and as a means to model healthy behaviors. This approach is often supplemented with journaling, which helps patients to frame these experiences and recognize how they can be applied in their own lives. Systems theory, on the other hand, is the idea that our behavior is intricately linked to our surroundings (e.g., our family, friends, or the broader community). Wilderness therapy endeavors to help patients by removing them from unconstructive or abusive environments.

Wilderness is an excellent example of documentary theatre (or verbatim theatre), as Bockley and Hamburger relied heavily on recorded interviews with former patients, parents, and counselors to construct the story and dialogue of the play. Because of Hamburger’s prior relationship with these groups, the playwrights were given unprecedented access to see how these camps function in person; typically, they do not allow outside people to see the process, as they think it will disrupt the therapy and group dynamics. Bockley and Hamburger then used this experience and the responses from the interviews as threads to form the play. Wilderness subsequently blurs the line between documentary and drama, as it melds a semi-fictional narrative with real-life stories. Similarly, it spans various artistic mediums through its innovative use of theatre, stylized movement, and pre-recorded media.

Wilderness is a pivotal play that sheds light on the growing mental health and substance abuse crises among adolescents. Unfortunately, this issue is rarely given the attention it deserves and is often shameful for parents and children to discuss. Accordingly, the play raises many pertinent questions about our societal attitudes toward therapy and recovery. It also reiterates how our modern disconnect from nature often complicates these problems, as we are given few opportunities to disengage and contemplate how we lead our lives. Hopefully, our production will continue this invaluable message by helping to destigmatize these issues further and humanizing the people who deal with them.

Support Ohio State Theatre

Wilderness Program

Wilderness Program

Wilderness

By Seth Bockley and Anne Hamburger

Directed by Mandy Fox

Setting

Cast

PRODUCTION TEAM

PRODUCTION CREW

STUDENT CAST & PRODUCTION TEAM BIOGRAPHIES

DRAMATURG'S NOTE

AFTERWORDS

UPCOMING DEPARTMENT PRODUCTIONS