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
Chair
E.J. Westlake
Production Manager
Sherée Greco
Director
Mandy Fox
Scenic Environment and Properties Designer
Katherine Simon
Costume Designer
Jo Fuller
Sound Designer
Keya Myers-Alkire
Technical Director
Chris Zinkon
Production Stage Manager
Garrett Ratliff
Choreographer
Maddie Denman
Dramaturg
Joshua Lewis
Assistant Directors
Joshua Lewis
Madeline Watson
External Relations and Publicity Coordinator
J. Briggs Cormier
Ticketing Services and Audience Services Specialist
Julia Buttermore
Graphic Design
Formation Studio
Incidental Music/Sound Design
Wilderness--Incidental Music
Composers/Sound Designers
Kyle Miller and Kyle Henderson
Scenic Studio Manager and Production Technical Director
Chad R. Mahan
Scenic Studio Teaching Associates
Braden Graves, Jessica Hightower, Katherine Simon
Costume Studio Manager
Coco Mayer
Costume Studio Teaching Associates
Jo Fuller, Catherine Huffman
Lighting Studio Manager
Eric M. Slezak
Sound and Media Studio Manager
Keya Myers-Alkire
Backstage Crew
Lydia Beyer, Emily Broski, Arri Ratanapan
Ticket Office Staff
Fatoumata Kante, Robbie Montuoro, Jason Speicher, Yun Yen
House Managers
Bailey Haller
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.
On Thursday, February 16th, there will be a post-performance discussion with Harry Warner, associate director for outreach at The Ohio State University Counseling and Consultation Service.
Everybody
By Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Directed by Kevin McClatchy
River Den
March 1 - 9
In this allegory, Everybody seeks someone to accompany them through life’s journey in hopes of securing a positive outcome when judged by God at the end of their life. After being rejected by Friendship, Kinship, Stuff, Mind, Five Senses, and Understanding, Everybody turns to Love for support. In the end, only Love leads to salvation as together, hand-in-hand, they crawl into the grave.
2016 MacArthur Fellow Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Appropriate; An Octoroon; Gloria) was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Everybody, a contemporary take on the 15th-Century morality play Everyman. To symbolize the randomness of death, five of the actors are assigned a role each performance through a lottery.