Mary Jackson ‘21

Otterbein senior Mary Jackson will learn the inner workings of a theatrical production as she interns this spring at the Abbey Theater of Dublin (Dublin, Ohio, that is!). She’ll follow the Abbey’s upcoming production of #Charlottesville from script to stage, applying her talents as a writer, artist, and graphic designer to promotional materials for the production.  This solo play addresses the August 2017 ‘Unite the Right’ rally and ensuing riots that occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia.  Drawing on interviews with Charlottesville residents, the play explores the city’s history of racial inequity.  Working on this virtual production, Mary will also see firsthand how contemporary theatre companies are adapting during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mary is drawing on her double major in Creative Writing and Studio Art to write a fantasy novel and illustrate its graphic counterpart for her senior Honors thesis project.  “Forgotten Things: A Historian’s Tale” is a story of a post-human world where magic and creatures of lore have taken sovereignty over the land (cover illustration pictured).  It narrates the adventures of Aster, a small flower elf whose job is to travel and document the residual traces of humanity. Every crumbling building, decaying record, and seemingly useless bauble of humanity tells a story, one that Aster is trying to interpret.  Between authoring a graphic novel and interning at a local theater company, Mary will be ready to leverage her English major post-Otterbein!

Drawing on her double major in Creative Writing and Studio Art, Mary Jackson ‘21, is writing a fantasy novel and illustrating its graphic counterpart for her senior Honors thesis project, “Forgotten Things: A Historian’s Tale.”

As part of her internship at the Abbey Theater of Dublin, OH, Mary is learning the inner workings of a theatrical production.