The Department of Theatre, Film and Media Arts at The Ohio State University hosted the Earth Matters on Stage Ecodrama Playwrights’ Festival and Symposium in March, highlighting efforts to make theater more sustainable, according to a May 13 announcement.
The event aimed to demonstrate how sustainability can be integrated into all aspects of theatrical production. Attendees learned about sustainable practices and viewed a play produced with these principles in mind. The play, “Acute Exposure” by August Hakvaag, was part of the department’s mainstage season and directed by adjunct assistant professor J Briggs Cormier.
Graduate student Joshua Lewis, who co-chaired the festival alongside his wife Paitton, said: “I think it is important to support artists who are also endeavoring to use theater to make a positive change in the world. Moreover, the festival aligns with our department’s focus on producing new works. It also supports the university’s commitment to sustainability and its long-term goal of creating a carbon-neutral campus.”
Cormier described several steps taken for sustainability: programs were moved entirely online via QR codes; costumes were mostly sourced from thrift stores or repurposed stock; and sets included hand-painted backdrops using existing materials. “For this show in particular, the costume designer did almost everything through thrift stores except for maybe a couple of pieces,” Cormier said. “It’s some stuff from our stock; some stuff from thrift stores. That cuts down on shipping costs. When you buy things on Amazon, you’re racking up the carbon footprint because some things come from overseas.”
Cormier added that reusing set materials provided significant cost savings: “We were able to reuse a drop we already had in stock… That’s actually a pretty significant cost saving opportunity.” He also noted improvements made possible by Ohio State’s new Theatre, Film and Media Arts building: “It is a smart building, so it’s being controlled by a computer system that regulates temperature so that it doesn’t heat or cool spaces if people aren’t actively in a room.”
“Acute Exposure” tells the story of two high school seniors facing an environmental crisis near their town—a plot inspired by an actual nuclear waste disposal site near Carlsbad, New Mexico. Cormier said about choosing this play for the festival: “I think they’re looking for a bit of entertainment and maybe a little bit of education… No one on the production team had known about the nuclear waste storage facility before we started working on the project.”
He emphasized that both storytelling and sustainable practices are central at Ohio State: “Most of our audience are college students here at Ohio State. A large part of what we’re trying to do is introduce them to theater, hopefully show them that theater can be entertaining and fun, even if it deals with heavy topics,” Cormier said.
Through initiatives like this festival and production methods such as digital programs or repurposed costumes—alongside facilities like Wexner Center for the Arts—the university continues its land-grant mission through affordable education, innovative research and community outreach across Ohio according to The Ohio State University.
