After the Blast
11/06/2025
After an environmental disaster forces survivors deep underground, nature must be simulated and fertility is tightly regulated. Anna and Oliver want a baby, but Anna can’t pass the Mental Health Exam. Will training their new robot helper satisfy Anna’s craving for meaning and purpose?
Drama reflects on big questions, hope and renewal
Dr. Melissa Friesen, communication and fine arts department chair and Mary Nord and Joseph Ignat endowed chair in theatre at Bluffton University, will direct Bluffton’s fall play, “After the Blast.”
“After the Blast” by Zoe Kazan blends dystopian intrigue with deep emotional insight, offering a poignant and timely reflection on resilience, connection and the fragile hope for renewal.
After an environmental disaster forces survivors deep underground, nature must be
simulated and fertility is tightly regulated. Anna and Oliver want a baby, but Anna
can’t pass the Mental Health Exam. Will training their new robot helper satisfy Anna’s
craving for meaning and purpose?
“This is the first post-apocalyptic play I think I’ve ever directed,” said Friesen. “The challenge of the post-apocalyptic setting was intriguing to me, but I love that the play is not all about the destruction.”
“After the Blast” asks big questions and makes comparisons to our life, which is what drew Friesen to the play. “It feels like a domestic setting where the human interactions are very familiar, but because of the setting, that gave us some unique design opportunities and challenges that I thought we could accomplish well.”
One of the big themes that interested Friesen was the quest for meaning and purpose, and the question, “When the horizon is so far away, how do you find hope?”
The production also asks questions about how the choices we make today impact future societies. “We’re all asking that question right now,” said Friesen. “I hope it helps us be a little more conscious about what individual and group acts and nation states can do to prevent this post-apocalyptic situation.”
Friesen was also captivated by the relationship between humans and technology in this play. “We’re living through a technological revolution right now, [...] and so to see that take place in a slightly parallel world helps us reflect and maybe shed new light on what we’re dealing with now.”
“After the Blast” poses questions about the human condition such as, “What is my purpose?” “How do I find hope in the midst of despair?” “How do you help people you love through difficult times, and how can those choices have unforeseen results?”
“Audiences will be taken on a journey of thinking through complex, important themes, in a really entertaining and engaging way,” Friesen said. “I love how the play urges us to think through those questions.”
Experiential learning for Bluffton students
“A really unique element of this play is the collaboration with Dr. Luke Myers’ linear electronics class,” said Friesen. Jennifer Specht ’27, Alexis Rippel ’27, and Logan Daugherty ’26 have taken on the challenge of designing a functioning robot for this production.
One of the characters in “After the Blast” is a robot named Arthur, “who is created with relatively simple components, but needs to be able to do complicated things,” Friesen said. The robot can move around, move its head, and communicate through flashing lights.
Dr. Luke Myers, assistant professor of physics, proposed this activity as an option for the course-long project. “As soon as [Professor Myers] mentioned it, Jenn and I immediately knew we wanted to take it on,” Rippel said. “Once Logan joined in, it became a fun and collaborative group project where we each took on different roles.”
“The most rewarding part of building the robot has been seeing our design come together,” said Specht. “Something that we planned and sketched actually looks like what we imagined.”
This is a substantial project, but the designers see great benefit in the time they have spent on it. “I was initially nervous about the project, but it has taught me so much,” said Rippel. “Professor Myers has encouraged us to take the lead, and he has only stepped in when absolutely necessary, which has helped me develop new skills and strengthen my problem-solving abilities.”
Specht had this to say: “Those in the play and those watching will smile when they see our cute robot.”
Performances of “After the Blast” will take place at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 13-15, and at 2:30 p.m., Nov.16, in College Hall, Ramseyer Auditorium. Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for senior citizens, Bluffton faculty and staff and non-Bluffton students. Bluffton University students can enjoy the play for free. Tickets can be purchased or reserved at ww.bluffton.edu/tickets
-Coen North '26