Four years ago, Lucas Baisch was a young adult with a big dream — to have one of his plays produced. This spring, Baisch watched his dream unfold on stage as his play “The Scavengers” debuted inside DePaul University’s Healy Theatre.

Growing up in San Francisco, Baisch realized his passion for theatre when he began acting in community theatre at the age of 8. He was later accepted to study acting at the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts.

“In that curriculum, it was required of everyone to take a playwriting course and I really enjoyed it. When senior year of high school came around, I applied to all of the playwriting programs in the country and chose DePaul because I knew that fourth-years get the opportunity to potentially have their work produced, which is a rarity amongst undergraduate programs,” Baisch explained.

During his third year as a playwriting major at DePaul, Baisch explored his interests in a yearlong independent study, which is where “The Scavengers” was born. At the culmination of the course, DePaul faculty chose his script to be produced as part of the New Playwrights Series in spring 2014. The series features the world premiere of a play written by a current student in The Theatre School and gives audiences an opportunity to experience plays by the next generation of playwrights.

“This whole year, I’ve been in design meetings, choosing directors and rewriting the script. This March we cast the play and spent six weeks in the rehearsal room preparing for opening night. It was really surreal,” Baisch said.

“The Scavengers” is an urban play set in the present day and explores the idea of what secrets live in the objects we collect. In the play, 17-year-old Miles desperately clings to his adolescence as his world and family fall apart around him. Meanwhile, the Higgs boson particle and a vortex of garbage in the ocean are threatening to destroy the world. Miles and his family seek out a hoarder who may have the key to helping his family survive themselves and the potential end of the world.

“I wanted to create a specific world and I went to garbage as a motif because I think objects are always a remnant of humanity. Even if they are discarded, you know it came from somewhere and was made by someone, so all objects are imbued with a certain story,” said Baisch. “I also think it is a cool and unique thing to display in a performance space.”

Along the way, Baisch has had a number of mentors help him get to where he is today. “Carlos Murillo is head of the playwriting department and for the past 3 1/2 years he has guided me through the playwriting process,” he said. “Dean Corrin also really inspired me as one of my playwriting professors and Bonnie Metzgar, who directed ‘The Scavengers,’ helped me shape the play into what it is today.”

It wasn’t only faculty who helped Baisch bring “The Scavengers” to life; he also credits fellow classmates including Elyse Balogh, a third-year scenic design major. “I love how immersive the set is that she designed. Many of the objects and trash were donated by The Theatre School community and she put them all together in a way I couldn’t have imagined by myself,” he said. “People come up to me and identify their own objects, and it gives the play more of a sense of community as well.”

After graduation, Baisch looks forward to discovering life outside of the university and continuing to work in the new play development field in Chicago. He also is looking forward to realizing how he can put his skills to work in other disciplines outside of theatre.

“I’m very aware that once I leave here, I may not get the opportunity to have another play produced for some time, especially at this capacity with all of the resources we have here at DePaul,” Baisch said. “As cliché as it sounds, I’ve actually dreamed of this time in my life and seeing one of my plays come to fruition. Now that it is physically tangible, I can’t believe it is happening.”

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