The Forty Acres can be a lonely place for some Longhorns. According to an MSU Extension study, over 80% of young adults feel alone. “do you also feel this ache? A performance conversation about loneliness and belonging” seeks to use the arts to understand isolation and emotional connection.

In the year-long Theatre for Dialogue course, students conduct interviews with people across different backgrounds, conceptualizing a performance utilizing those voices to portray the common feelings of isolation across campus. They completed their third performance on April 15 inside the San Jacinto Hall formal lounge to a group of peers.

“One of the things that you’ll see that’s really unique about this piece of theater is that it pulls from voices across campus,” said Lynn Hoare, a lecturer in theatre and dance. “We modeled part of the performance on a style that a colleague of mine has written a book about … which he calls ‘verbatim theater’ (a form of theater constructed from the exact words of people).”

While loneliness often presents as an individual experience, the students discovered many interviewees shared common themes, such as academic and first-generation pressure, reflected in the performance through their own voices. 

“We throw a lot of statistics into the show too,” said Giulianna Marchese, a second-year doctoral student in the Performance as Public Practice program. “One of the things that really hits me every time is one of Rami’s (one of the student performers) lines when he talks about someone not going to class for two weeks, and no one reaching out to him. Seeing a feeling that you experience reflected in other people can mean a lot, and you don’t get that in statistics.”

In addition to recited interviews, the unconventional performance featured visual interpretations, small group activities and even an impromptu cooking show that examined loneliness from both emotional and factual perspectives, prompting the audience to connect with the people around them. 

“It’s different (because) it’s a community-based piece of art,” Marchese said. “I was excited to learn about a different way of making theater that is not steeped in the professional structures and jargon of theater-making that I’m used to.”

Alongside the audience, the performers also pushed out of their comfort zones to facilitate connection with one another. 

“I’ve never done theater before,” said Rami Mannan, a third-year Community and Regional Planning doctoral student. “I’ve never done any acting before, so seeing … the pros do it, it’s nice. They kind of took us under their wings.”

Created in collaboration with University Housing and Dining, Student Government and Longhorn Wellness Center, the performance continues the push for more social connection and mental health awareness within the student body. 

“We’ve had a lot of feedback from Longhorn Wellness (Center) specifically,” said Nia Brondo, a theatre and dance senior. “(Student Government) is all about social connection, so they’ve been very encouraging.”

With their last performance on April 23 at the Winship Drama Building, Courtney Schulze, a human dimensions of organizations senior, said she hopes the performances will prompt audiences to become more open about loneliness and understand it as a temporary feeling.

“Every time I perform this, it’s a new realization about loneliness,” Schulze said. “This is normal. It’s (going to) pass.”