Shared on behalf of Sally Wasmuth
Reserve your seats now forThe Only Issue, a one-act play born out of a collaboration between occupational therapy and professional theater.
![Large graphic with a photo of a bird house with a state of Indiana as the entry space. Includes logos for IU OT, Summit Horizons, and Phoenix Theatre.](https://blogs.iu.edu/shhsnews/files/2024/07/07.09.24_theonlyissue_cover-300x111.jpg)
The Only Issue: A play about humans, the planet, and our collective way forward is the latest offering from IU occupational therapy (OT) researcher and assistant professor Sally Wasmuth, Ph.D., OTR. Working with Summit Performance Indianapolis, Wasmuth strives to use theater as both a therapeutic intervention and a means of stimulating community conversations about critical topics. Summit is a professional women’s-based theater company focused on highlighting women’s stories and fostering community dialogue.
Since 2018, this collaboration has resulted in seven original one-act plays, each about a particular social justice issue, and each developed from interviews conducted by Wasmuth and her research team. A optional conversation, also known as talkback, follows each performance and features expert panelists. Previous topics include postpartum depression and anxiety, reproductive health care in a post-Roe Indiana, and Black voices in OT. Wasmuth indicates occupational therapy is about promoting justice and wellbeing for all, and this requires a healthy planet. The Only Issue takes a look at the harm caused to the planet by human changes, changes that inequitably harm people.
Free and open to the general public, The Only Issue runs August 8 and 9 at Phoenix Theatre Cultural Center in downtown Indianapolis. Seating is limited, so reserve your space soon.