The Journal

Story from the Heart

Senior Theatre student writes, directs one-act play honoring his late father

During the Spring 2022 semester, Dylan Todd Brown ’23 learned that he was going to be able to direct a play for his senior capstone. The plan was to identify a group of actors and then write a play specifically for them — a perfect way to blend his passion for directing and scriptwriting — but a family tragedy that summer made Dylan change how he would pursue his capstone.

“At the end of July in 2022, my dad — Micheal Todd Brown — passed away and so I pivoted and decided to write a play about him,” Dylan says. “The first draft only took me about a week to write. The end result of what was performed was about the fifth draft because I worked on it and kept writing it even as we were rehearsing it and adding new scenes and changing the scenes to make it better for the actors. I was working on writing it up until about two weeks before it was performed.”

In February, Dylan’s play, Things Left Behind, Or Memories of my Father, was performed in the studio of the Friederich Theater. The play is somewhat of a metatheatrical exploration of grief and a man trying to make sense of his father’s death by reliving the memories that he has of his father.

“It was hard, but it was also really cathartic and therapeutic. While working on it, it kind of felt like he was alive still, so it was nice to get to bring him back to life with my art and share him with people, like the people in the Theatre Department, who really never knew him because he was always on the road,” Dylan says. “My dad was a semi-truck driver. It was nice to be able to share him with all my friends and all the Theatre faculty and students here.”

Ben Cromwell, Assistant Professor of English, and Jason Halbleib, and Adjunct in the Theatre Department, helped Dylan with his revisions, and Cromwell portrayed his uncle in the play. Also in the play were Andy Felt, Associate Professor of Theatre, who portrayed Dylan’s father, and Felt’s daughter, Tilly, who played Dylan’s sister as a child. Andrew Konjevich ’23, who is an Information Systems major with a Theatre minor, played Dylan.

“I’m extremely proud of what Andrew did and how far he came from the beginning to the end,” Dylan says. “He really knocked it out of the park. I could not have asked for a better cast; everyone was terrific.”

Dylan says Cromwell and Halbleib helped with his concerns of writing, read every draft and then met him to talk about what was working and what was not.

“He’s a good guy,” Cromwell says. “He has a lot of life experience and a lot of talent. He was always open to revise his work and he took the critique process seriously. He has a lot of these different pieces that make him a really sound writer.”

Cromwell says the blue-collar narrative that Dylan creates is something special and not often highlighted in scriptwriting.

The late Micheal Todd Brown holds his son, Dylan Todd Brown.

The late Micheal Todd Brown holds his son, Dylan Todd Brown.

Micheal (left) and his three children: Dylan, Paige and Garrison.

Micheal (left) and his three children: Dylan, Paige and Garrison.

Dylan says he was very lucky that everyone who was involved cared about it just as much as he did and enjoyed working hard together. He also loved that it was a collaborative project. During rehearsals, he asked for their ideas so he could make the best possible experience for them and find as many similarities as possible between them — the actors — and the real-life people they were playing.

“Yes, it was definitely healing,” Dylan says. “I did have a bit of a wave of depression once the show was over, but I do have plans to keep working on it in the future. I wrote it as a ‘one act’ and I have plans to expand it into a full-length play.”

A few months after he graduates with a BFA in Directing with a Focus on Playwriting, Dylan plans to teach English in Japan, a job he would like to do until returning to the states for graduate school. He appreciates what the Theatre Department has provided to him — not just for supporting him during the creation of his original play — and recommends Marietta to anyone interested in studying the arts.

“The good thing about Marietta’s Theatre Department, since it is a smaller program, it’s a really good way to get the best-rounded theatre education because you get trained in a lot of different things, as opposed to if you go to a conservatory, where you’re pretty much forced into training in only one thing. Here, I’ve gotten training as an actor, as a director, a playwright, a stage manager, a sound designer, a set designer and a lighting designer. I have enjoyed a well-rounded education, and I could potentially work in a lot of different fields after graduation.”

GI SMITH

Supporting student veterans gains momentum on campus

Jon White ’24 spent 20 years serving in the United States Marine Corps, retiring at the rank of Staff Sergeant. Today, he’s a Political Science major and Philosophy and Leadership minor trying to create an environment on campus that’s more appealing to veterans.

Working toward that goal, White and two fellow Marine Corps veterans — Kyle Jacobs ’23 and Zach Hiserote ’24 — recently established the first Marietta College Student Veterans of America chapter.

“We’re here trying to work up the support system on campus so we can attract more veterans to Marietta,” White says.

Jason Nulton, Community Engagement Coordinator through the McDonough Center for Leadership & Business, says the chapter started in response to Marietta’s application to receive the Purple Star designation, which means the College shows a major commitment to students and families connected to the U.S. Armed Forces. The application strongly encourages the formation of a veteran-centric campus organization.

“We were also encouraged to start it after we discovered that MC alum and former Trustee Major General (USMC) Chris Cortez ’71 was the national chair. We spoke to Gen. Cortez as well as SVA CEO Jared Lyon, who were very encouraging — and who we hope to host in the future,” Nulton says.

SVA is open to students who are veterans and military-affiliated, such as those attending through the GI Bill.

“This is an excellent organization with many opportunities for students to network and get involved in the community around veterans’ issues,” Nulton says.

With the support and encouragement of President Bill Ruud, who is a veteran of the U.S. Army, Nulton has been actively working to improve support of veterans on campus. In addition to pursuing the Purple Star designation, a Veterans’ Center lounge space has been planned for McDonough 204. The project was supported through this year’s Day of Giving — and 17 donors provided $8,105 to renovate the space, which will be ready by the end of summer 2023. The lounge will have comfortable seating, study spaces and a kitchenette. Veterans and military-affiliated students and employees can use the space, which also will be used by the SVA for meetings.

During one of their first meetings, Marietta’s SVA chapter briefly discussed what would be their first service project supporting Stack Up, “a 501(C)3 military charity supporting active and veteran service members from the U.S. and allied nations by promoting positive mental health and suicide prevention through gaming and geek culture,” according to Stack Up’s mission statement.

“We are including the esports team but we are trying to market a campus-wide call-to-arms that will reach everyone, and our end goal is an event where students can ‘pie’ faculty,” Hiserote says.

Hiserote, a Journalism/Broadcasting major with a minor in Graphic Design and a Certificate in Communication, served in the Marines for five years and earned the rank of Sergeant. Jacobs, a Physics major, served for 4 ½ years and earned the rank of Corporal.

White chose Marietta because it has a Philosophy program — “None of the other schools I was looking at had it,” White says. Jacobs is from St. Marys, West Virginia, so he and his wife had family support to help with their young children. Hiserote worked on major construction projects after serving in the military before enrolling at Marietta. It took some time to figure out what he wanted to major in, but eventually landed on academic programs that blended his creativity with his interest in technology.

All three men carve out time to connect with each other and lay the foundation of support for future student veterans at Marietta. “It’s just us right now,” says Hiserote, “but we’re hoping more (veterans) will come to Marietta if they see there’s a place for them here.”

GI SMITH

SVA President Jon White ’24 (right) Kyle Jacobs ’23

SVA member Zach Hiserote ’24

Nagisa Harada ’25 (left) and Kanae Yoshida ’25

Nagisa Harada ’25 (left) and Kanae Yoshida ’25

Building cultural bonds with food

Yutaro Ito ’25 takes great pride being able to share traditions and food from his Japanese upbringing with his fellow students at Marietta.

As a member of the student group, Global Connections, and one of several international students from Japan, Ito spent some time with Parkhurst Dining Manager Adria Handley during various cultural events and the duo shared an idea to highlight and serve more international food during special dinners in Gilman Dining Hall.

“As I am Japanese and Japanese students are the majority group among international students here at Marietta College, I decided to do a Japanese food takeover with Parkhurst,” Ito says. “I am so grateful to all the Parkhurst staff, cooks, and chefs for working with us and making this happen. From the beginning of the process, they were welcoming and put a lot of effort into it. We communicated with each closely, and that allowed us to prepare details. On the day we did this takeover, all the Parkhurst workers contributed to forming the atmosphere that made everyone feel a special night.”

Handley says one of Parkhurst’s goals is to provide authentic culinary experiences, so collaborating with students from different cultures is valuable and valued. Handley and Ito worked with Tony Mayle, Associate Dean of Students and Director of Diversity and Inclusion, to explore ways to add those experiences to the College’s main dining hall.

“Yutaro and the other members of Global Connections identified Japanese food as the first cuisine to feature and then put together some suggestions of favorite foods that would be great representations of their culture,” Handley says. “They provided us with recipes and ingredient lists for the dishes so that we could source authentic ingredients. The students even prepared samples of many of the items for a tasting with our chef and managers.”

Ito — along with fellow Japanese students Kanae Yoshida ’25, Nagisa Harada ’25, Norihiro Matsuyama ’23, Kazuho Kashima ’25, and Haruka Kimura ’26 — also helped create and serve dishes such as Sanshoku don, edamame, Salad Maki, Udon Bar and miso soup, to their peers. The members are grateful to the Parkhurst staff for welcoming the project and helping to create a special atmosphere for students during the dinner.

“It was such an amazing and exciting experience to make dishes and serve my peers and faculty at the station we set up,” Ito says. “Making rolls in front of others strengthened my pride in Japanese food. I was so proud to see people enjoying the dishes we made and coming back to the station over and over again because they liked it. This event also brought us an opportunity to tell my peers about Japanese food culture as well.”

Global Connections has experienced a revitalization since waning due to the pandemic. During this year’s Day of Giving, the student organization was one of the 11 projects highlighted, and donors generously gave nearly $600 to support events such as the Japanese Takeover dinner.

“The purpose of this organization is to introduce different cultures in the world to the campus community and bring awareness of multicultural coexistence,” Ito says. “I believe it is crucial for our campus community in terms of providing international students like me opportunities to represent their cultures and creating environments where everyone can feel a sense of belonging and experience different cultures here in the Mid-Ohio Valley.”

GI SMITH

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