Theatrical presentation to eulogize AEP plant closing near Conesville
‘Calling Hours’ will be held in May 2023
COSHOCTON − Many who worked at or lived near the former American Electric Power plant just outside Conesville might refer to its closing akin to a death in the family. That’s the tact being taken by a theatrical presentation to preserve it’s legacy.
Anne Cornell, executive director of the Pomerene Center for the Arts, is working on “Calling Hours” to be performed the first weekend of May next year. This will commemorate the third anniversary of the coal-fired power plant closing and the end of Conesville Elementary School. Students are being consolidated at a cost savings to the River View School District as the shuttering of the plant led to them losing $2.2 million in tax revenue.
Cornell said the project was inspired by an Ohio State University research project looking at three communities where power plants closed, including Conesville. “Calling Hours” is being funded by a $14,757 ARTSNEXT grant from the Ohio Arts Council.
“(Researchers) wanted a theater piece to come out of the research to bring back to the communities. Sort of an accessible way to funnel what they learned,” Cornell said. “It’s all supposed to mesh together.”
Cornell is working on the script with Tom Dugdale, assistant professor in the Department of Theatre, Film and Media Arts at OSU. They are compiling stories of those with some connection to the plant and then blending them together to create composite characters who will deliver eulogies for the plant during the presentation.
“It’s really important for us to have face-to-face with people who have been involved, not just looking at the research. We can pull quotes from the research, but to really tell stories you have to talk to the actual people,” Cornell said. .”
The idea is to have local actors deliver the eulogies at a local funeral home and then have a procession from there to the ARTPARK on Main Street, ran by the Pomerene Center, for a reception featuring artwork by Michael Schmidt of the University of Mount Union depicting coal mining and the plant. Cornell will be talking to funeral homes in the city to participate and looking for actors upcoming.
“We’ve been brainstorming as a group, how do we make this accessible to people and not weird,” Cornell said. “It’s looking at it from different perspectives. What people are mourning, what they’re rejoicing, what they remember and what they’re bringing out of there of value.”
Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with close to 15 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on Twitter at @llhayhurst.