Oftentimes, we as academics celebrate the successes of a completed work, but there is so much more that goes into a novel, film, or theatrical piece that deserves recognition and discussion throughout the entire creative process. The idea behind this new event stemmed from this notion, that we should be able to acknowledge and engage with the development, experimentation, and challenges that occur along the way, not just the polished final product.

The inaugural event was centered around Dr. Justin O. Johnston’s work in progress, Helio Fictions. The work focused on three theoretical structures: solar punk, solidarity, and declinism. According to Professor Johnston himself, the analysis of each was “part literary criticism” and “part speculative framework.”

He shaped each of the aforementioned literary frameworks as similar genres, each with a different primary focus. The discussion investigated how solidarity explored the energy break as we move on to cleaner forms of energy. Instead of mentioning or focusing on the clean energy revolution, tying those ideas to the incredibly artistic genre of solar punk. Johnston then dug further into Solairty’s socio-economic relevance, mentioning how “imagining the end of the world is easier than planning a better world.”

The feasibility of a better world remained a constant in the discussion, especially when discussing the third and final theme, declinism. Professor Johnston asked the audience how fictions of societal collapse feel far more feasible than ones of progress and how a “medium future” seems like a far more possible future than a happy one. 

The talk ended with an examination of these three themes and their effects on future societal views of utopia, especially with the rising threat of climate change. Professor Johnston’s exploration of these themes and ideas reminds the audience to engage with these utopian and dystopian ideas and analyze them as they parallel our future.

Professor Ken Wietzman’s “The Theatre of Well-Being” engages with the formation of the Positive Psychology movement to transform decades of research into an experimental, participatory, theatrical event called the Happiness Gym. Its main goal is to foster connection, gratitude, and kindness based on scientific research that promotes and maintains happiness and well-being. After winning the HISB Fellowship award in 2023, Professor Weitzman created a trial run of his event with Stony Brook students, and later had its first professional production in Florida called “Happiness Gym in Boca Beach.” 

Professor Weitzman’s journey to create the Happiness Gym started when he began researching positive psychology and encountered many practices with scientific backing that promote happiness. After attempting to follow them, however, Professor Weitzman encountered a roadblock with these exercises as they started to feel like a burdening to-do list. Upon further research and hypothesizing, Professor Weitzman read that having a prosocial, communal exercise where you practice twice a week, will effectively promote and maintain lasting happiness. This led to his belief that a theatrical event that featured these prosocial aspects would be efficacious. As a result, the Happiness Gym was founded.

Piloted as part of a Stony Brook class in Spring ‘22, the Gym took over three Staller theatres that each had a distinct theme: Good News, Gratitude, and Connection. The first room, the Good News room, involved participants reading a kind story from a piece of paper, and retelling it to other students. This fostered an easy and fear-less social connection because participants would tell stories not about themselves but other people. The Gratitude room contained different stations that all had a unique prompt that participants would answer (e.g. What are three qualities you possess for which you’re grateful?). Students would additionally write a letter

to someone expressing gratitude. Scientific research states that reading the letter out loud to the recipient would produce the most effective results, but Professor Weitzman set up a more theatrical way to present the letter ‘as if’ to the person (i.e., to an empty chair, to one of the facilitators, in a phone booth, etc.). Finally, the Connection room had pairs of students go back and forth asking and answering thirty questions that got progressively deeper. By the time the exercises were over, Professor Weitzman found that the students didn’t want to leave the room, they just wanted to keep talking with one another. 

The overwhelmingly positive feedback inspired Professor Weitzman to look into professionalizing the Happiness Gym, which eventually led to the world premiere of Happiness Gym in Boca Beach at Theatre Lab, a professional theatre in residence at Florida Atlantic University on April 12. The theatre was set up as if you were walking into a bonfire on the beach, with a propped bonfire center stage, the MC playing the ukulele throughout the exercises and other beach-like props scattered around the stage. 

Hearing Professor Weitzman talk about the Happiness Gym was incredible, and I think necessary in today’s climate. We so often get caught up in the frantic activities of our daily lives that we frequently fail to appreciate the joys of community and connection; even on a college

campus. I would love to participate in a Happiness Gym, and I think the Stony Brook community would greatly benefit from having our own rendition of Professor Weitzman’s Theatre of Well-Being.