“Going green,” is a phrase you hear a lot these days, as people and organizations strive to create a more sustainable and thriving environment. The Department of Theatre, Film and Media Arts at The Ohio State University is no exception. 

In March, the theatre department hosted the Earth Matters on Stage (EMOS) Ecodrama Playwrights' Festival and Symposium, promoting sustainable theatre. In addition to learning about the concept, attendees were also able to see what a play produced with sustainable principles looks like.

The play, Acute Exposure by August Hakvaag, was produced as part of the department's mainstage season and directed by J Briggs Cormier, an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Theatre, Film and Media Arts. Sustainable theatre isn’t new to Ohio State, but continues to be a movement worth pursuing. 

“I think it is important to support artists who are also endeavoring to use theatre to make a positive change in the world,” said graduate student Joshua Lewis, who co-chaired the festival alongside his wife, Paitton. “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.”

Sustainability impacts all areas of producing the play. Everything from set design to costumes and even the programs are factored in. 

Cormier said that the programs have been moved entirely to digital QR codes to save paper programs from being thrown away at the end of the night. Costumes, often bought or made new for each show, were mostly repurposed or bought used instead.

“For this show in particular, the costume designer did almost everything through thrift stores except for maybe a couple of pieces,” said Cormier. “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.”

To take it a step further, the set’s backdrop was hand-painted rather than purchased, giving the set a level or originality and staying true to the sustainability movement. 

“We were able to reuse a drop we already had in stock,” Cormier said. “That’s actually a pretty significant cost saving opportunity.”

Even Ohio State’s new Theatre, Film and Media Arts building has vastly improved the play’s eco-friendliness. 

“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,” he said. 

With all of these new approaches to sustainability, it only makes sense that the plot of the play itself surrounds an environmental issue. Acute Exposure is a coming-of-age drama that centers on two high school seniors, Dell and Mara, living in the small town of Loving, N.M. The play revolves around their developing relationship against the backdrop of an environmental crisis—a nearby underground nuclear waste disposal site, which actually exists in Carlsbad, N.M.

“I think they're looking for a bit of entertainment and maybe a little bit of education,” Cormier said when discussing what the goal of the sustainability festival is and why Acute Exposure was chosen to be featured. “No one on the production team had known about the nuclear waste storage facility before we started working on the project.” 

Cormier said that the play’s story is just as important as the mission of sustainability, especially as it pertains to theatre at Ohio State. Part of the joy of theatre can be its ability to create hope and develop ideas for a better future, and that’s a message many college students – and people in general – can benefit from.

“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 theatre, hopefully show them that theatre can be entertaining and fun, even if it deals with heavy topics,” Cormier said. 

Through its sustainable theatre performances, Ohio State is hoping to inspire change while also developing a thirst for knowledge and a passion for theatre. The Acute Exposure performance and festival is a step in the right direction.