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Next Performing Arts | Theater
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For ticketing questions please call the Visitor Desk at (614) 292-3535.
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Experience a public reading of the script for The Assembly, featuring Ohio State and regional actors and directed by playwrights Annabel Soutar and Alex Ivanovici.
The performers give life to a script derived from real-life, recorded conversations between strangers with wildly different ideological leanings. It is a blueprint for navigating the extremism and tribalism in political discourse today.
The Assembly is not a battle of abstract ideologies; it is a very human encounter between unique people wrestling with complex topics in candid, diverse, and surprising ways. And although their dialogue is not always rational, the four Assembly characters express emotions and personal experiences that we can relate to, even if we don’t always agree with them. (program approx. 60 mins.)
Soutar and Ivanovici, who founded Porte Parole, are part of Ohio State’s 2025–26 Visiting Artist Series. Stay after the performance for a Q&A with the playwrights and consider how we can bridge political divides and discuss the important issues we face.
Join Soutar and Ivanovic at 4 PM on Tuesday, February 17, to hear about the behind-the-scenes making of and rationale behind The Assembly as part of the School of Environment and Natural Resources Spring 2026 Seminar Series. All are welcome to attend in person at 1 Kottman Hall 103, 2021 Coffey Road, Columbus, OH 43210 or simulcast on Zoom. Learn more about the event.
Kaunas National Drama Theatre and Porte Parole, Kauno Asambléja, Lithuania. Photo: Donatas Stankevicius.
Porte Parole, The Assembly.
Porte Parole, L’Assemblée Québec, photo: Vincent Champoux.
Porte Parole, L’Assemblée Montreal, photo: Maxime Côté.
Based in Montreal, Canada, Porte Parole Productions is the brainchild of playwright and producer Annabel Soutar and director, actor, and playwright Alex Ivanovici. Its mission is to use documentary theater to transform civic engagement in its audiences. The company regards theater as providing an innovative hub for democratic dialogue—a space that promotes curiosity, creativity, critical thinking, and live contact between diverse and engaged citizen-participants. Learn more about Porte Parole.
Presented by Ohio State’s Department of Theater, Film, and Media Arts; School of Environment and Natural Resources; and Office of Academic Affairs Visiting Artist Program.
Ohio State’s Office of Academic Affairs
Doris Duke Foundation
American Electric Power Foundation
CoverMyMeds
Huntington
Mike and Paige Crane
Greater Columbus Arts Council
The Wexner Family
Ohio Arts Council, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts
CampusParc
The Columbus Foundation
Every Page Foundation
Mellon Foundation
Axium Packaging
Nationwide Foundation
Michael and Anita Goldberg
Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease LLP
Joyce Shenk
Rebecca Perry and Ben Towle
Lachelle Thigpen
Next Performing Arts
Porte Parole
