In a collaboration between arts and sciences at Michigan State University, the Department of Theatre presented six immersive outdoor theatrical performances of “The Grown-Ups,” set around a campfire at the Corey Marsh Ecological Research Center, a 350-acre property located in Laingsburg, Michigan, that is managed by MSU’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Directed by Rob Roznowski, Professor of Acting at MSU, and Katherine ‘Kat’ Poon, Spring 2025 MSU graduate with a BFA in Theatre Design and B.A. in Psychology, each performance, which were held April 26-28, was limited to just 16 audience members, offering a rare and intimate theatrical experience.

“It was great to see Corey Marsh used for such a fun event that engaged many different people in ways I would have never imagined,” said Jen Owen, Associate Professor in MSU’s Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and Center Coordinator for Corey Marsh Ecological Research Center.

“It was great to see Corey Marsh used for such a fun event that engaged many different people in ways I would have never imagined.”

Jen Owen, Center Coordinator, Corey Marsh Ecological Research Center

Roznowski initiated this collaborative effort after he was inspired by a previous theatre-science partnership at Corey Marsh where he saw the center’s rustic fire pit and thought it would be the perfect setting for “The Grown-Ups,” a play written by Skylar Fox and Simon Henriques that is set at a summer camp.

“Jen Owen and others were very receptive about getting more of the arts at that beautiful location,” Roznowski said. “I had always wanted to direct ‘The Grown-Ups,’ and when I saw their idyllic setting, it was a natural fit.”

Poon also harbored an interest in directing the play and had a vision for the show.

“I had wanted to direct the show from the time I first read it and really connected with it,” she said. “There’s not a lot of plays written about and featuring characters of our age. It was refreshing to read something that reflected and was genuine to our generation.”

The play is about a group of five summer camp counselors who are gathered around a campfire and discuss their friendships with each other, their collective and individual pasts, their role as counselors, and how to help their campers deal with things like their maturing bodies, all while confronting their own impending adulthood and against a backdrop of a growing national emergency.

For Poon, the play’s themes resonated personally, particularly as a graduating senior.

“The play is about being put in a situation where you’re forced to confront adulthood in a very drastic way,” she said. “Relating to real life, I have just graduated, and that’s so scary. I think that’s a lot of why I connected with it. The play’s about being told, ‘you have to grow up now. You have to take on this responsibility. And you have to deal with all this change around you.'”

The outdoor performances used the natural environment at Corey Marsh as the setting for this immersive theatrical experience where the line was blurred between actors and audience members who sat alongside each other around the fire pit. The intimacy of this setting was central to the audience’s experience as they were directly part of the action.

“With the audience so close to the actors, the props were incredibly detailed,” Roznowski said. “During the show, outside life invades the social media and phone messages of these characters about an impending disaster and we wanted the audience to feel a part of that.”

Audience members actually became part of the play at its conclusion when one character broke through the fourth wall to ask the audience a series of personal questions.

“The most challenging part for me was sitting down with just five actors, a campfire, and a couple of props, and no intense sound design or lighting. We purely relied on the storytelling and the character relationships.”

Kat Poon, Co-Director

“I had hoped the audience answered those questions truthfully and honestly and really came to terms with what is special about the here and now,” Poon said.

And, with no traditional set design or lighting, the focus was entirely on the actors, the story, and the natural surroundings.

“Coming from a design background, the most challenging part for me was sitting down with just five actors, a campfire, and a couple of props, and no intense sound design or lighting,” Poon said. “We purely relied on the storytelling and the character relationships.”

However, producing a show outdoors did require new technical strategies.

“We were dependent on weather and wind and more to work around,” Roznowski said. “The creative logistics included keeping the story moving while the actors were stoking the fire. Volume also was an issue where actors had to speak above the wind and fire.”

“The collaborations between arts and sciences needs to be supported and encouraged on campus. Corey Marsh is a lovely place to spend some time…We hope this sort of programming gets new kinds of patrons to take advantage of this amazing resource.”

Rob Roznowski, Co-Director and Professor of Acting

The five actors in “The Grown-Ups” included BFA in Acting seniors Alex Spevetz, Natalie Palencik, and Sam Smelser; BA in Theatre junior Alison Mastee; and BFA in Graphic Design major Austin Smith.

All proceeds from ticket sales of the play will benefit the undergraduate research initiatives at the Corey Marsh Ecological Research Center.

“The collaborations between arts and sciences needs to be supported and encouraged on campus,” Roznowski said. “Corey Marsh is a lovely place to spend some time. The trails are great and the work being done there is really interesting. We hope this sort of programming gets new kinds of patrons to take advantage of this amazing resource.”

By Austin Curtis and Kim Popiolek