By Anna Ramsey, Staff Editor 

 

VSU’s very own Hank Rion, associate professor of theater, just got a taste of stardom. 

 

Rion spent the week of Sept. 7 in New York City extensively workshopping his play, entitled “Truth Is,” with other theatre professionals who are passionate about his story. 

 

Rion’s playwrighting debut has been picked up by no fewer than three high-caliber production companies, including the New York Rep, Think Big Picture, and Midnight Theatricals. 

 

“They’ve really taken the play under their wing, and they realize how special it is and how special it is to me,” Rion said. “They see it going to off-Broadway and Broadway, and then regional. They have so much faith in me, and they see it going a long way.” 

 

Big Broadway names participated in the readings, including Christiane Noll (Tony nominated for “Ragtime” on Broadway) and Hannah Shankman (“Wicked” on Broadway and national tour of “Funny Girl”). Further stage and television stars were involved but cannot be mentioned yet due to legal constraints. 

 

“Truth Is” is inspired by the events of Rion’s childhood, revolving around themes of childhood trauma, parental relationships, and struggling with one’s personal identity. 

 

“It’s got a message that a lot of people don’t talk about that I think it’s important for audiences to see,” Rion said.  

 

The characters in the play are very closely based on himself and his three immediate family members. Such vulnerability comes at a cost, however. 

 

“It’s difficult having actors read your lines and play a composite of you,” Rion said. “It’s been very cathartic. It’s a way of letting go of things. Each time I do it, a little piece of anger or harboring negative things that happened in my past go away.”  

 

Rion began writing the play three years ago, in the Summer of 2022. While working as the artistic director of Peach State Summer Theatre, famously housed by VSU’s Fine Arts building, COVID-19 struck the company, and everyone was quarantined for 10 days. 

 

In the solitude of his own home, without any aforethought, Rion sat down and poured his heart out on paper. He wrote 72 pages in two days. The result was a reflection of his psyche that had never seen the light of day until that moment. 

 

“I think it had been dying to come out, and I just didn’t realize it,” he said. 

 

Joshua Bowyer is a senior theatre performance major and student of Rion. 

 

“I think it’s interesting being taught by someone who’s writing for Broadway,” Bowyer said. 

 

Rion’s experience in New York may have been informational, but the collaboration was exceptionally hard work, he told his students. Sixteen-hour days were filled with nonstop readings, rewrites, and meetings; some days, Rion didn’t have time for lunch and would get home near midnight. 

 

Some collaborators were less concerned with keeping the real story and more concerned with making it flashy and short to keep audiences engaged.  

 

“It’s a little daunting,” said Bowyer. “[Rion is teaching me] that no matter how people treat you or your ideas, if it’s what you believe in, you need to fight for it.” 

 

Rion is a triple threat; he balances being a full-time professor, directing VSU Theatre’s fall production of “The Duchess of Malfi,” and working on his play. “I carve out time for my writing. I get up every morning, I write for an hour and a half every day, and then I go to work,” he said. “It has to become part of your life. Whenever I have a chance to write, I’m writing.” 

 

Despite the high hopes Rion has for the project, the purpose behind it was never to make it big.  

 

“The events of the play made me who I am. It’s made me a stronger person and a more empathetic person, and I think that’s why people are responding to it because it makes them see something in their lives,” Rion said.  

 

The real purpose behind it was to take his difficult past and turn it into something beautiful. 

 

“After every single reading, people have come up to me and said, ‘I’m gonna go call my sister,’ or ‘I’m gonna go call my brother.’ If it prompts conversations within families to get things out, I am so happy,” Rion said. “That’s the only reward I want.” 

 

“Truth Is” is expected to be performed onstage for the first time in the fall of 2026.