←Recommendations of Acute Exposure

We selected "Acute Exposure" by August Hakvaag for a reading in our Media Arts Counsel Reading series. This play draws you in and makes you care about the characters and hope for them. Dialog is authentic with layered subtext. Well done.

This is a very thoughtful, tender, nuanced piece. Hakvaag uses the images of radioactive waste and handprints to explore themes of intimacy, teenage queerness, time, and human impact on the environment. A really lovely piece with great roles for young actors!

There are so few early-career writers that have such a gift for language & establishing multi-level relationships in text. Alice lives in her work authentically. She writes young women in relatable circumstances & treats them as beautiful, layered beings - recognizing that while we are not treated w the same dignity as our counterparts - we too have rich inner lives, needs & desires. These characters stand on their own in the text & though they contrast greatly, Dell & Mara are written with such equal weight & sympathy.

Alice Hakvaag is truly a butch Greta Gerwig for our modern-age.

A lovely story of human connection, perceived toxicity, and the things we bury. The stellar imagery manifests in neon markings that physically exhibit the transformational power of intimacy. Dell and Mara captured my heart and mind, and gave me hope for future generations. As Dell beautifully summarizes, "We shouldn’t fight against human nature to be curious and explore things, even if they might hurt us. We have to let the people of the future be loud, and trust them to understand."