Staged Reading: From Dust

By Eli Campbell
Directed by Kayla Adams 

Featuring: Hunter Meyer, Leah Urzendowski, and Jasper Rood 
 

Sunday, February 22 8PM
Alan MacVey Theatre 

After hiring Smith to build her an underground bunker, Ettie, a doomsday prepper, becomes convinced that a nuclear attack is happening right now. She shuts them both inside despite Smith's rampant skepticism, effectively forcing them to spend the rest of their lives underground together. From Dust is about existential anxiety, misinformation, and the question: should you open the door?

Run time: 80 minutes.

Content warning: Discussion of suicide. 

Special Thanks: Thank you to Hunter and Leah, who have been developing this play with me for as long as I've been writing it, and for whom these characters were written. Thanks also to Dee Silver, Mary Beth Easley, Tony Meneses, Margaret Smith, and Kayla Adams. 

This reading is funded by the generous support of Dee Silver, M.D.  

The Dee Silver, M.D. commission was established in 2023. The commission provides a platform for narratives that convey strength and hope, aiming to enrich the national theatrical landscape with stories that foster empathy. The partnership with the Cignet Theatre, one of Southern California’s premier professional theatre companies, offers a recent MFA Playwright the opportunity to further develop a new piece for the stage. This play will be workshopped January 2027 in San Diego at the Cignet Theatre.

This reading is free and open to all. 

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact the Department of Theatre Arts in advance at 319-335-2700.