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"Rubber Meets Road" is a 60-minute play collaboratively written, directed, and produced by Kent State University senior English major and Writing minor Kelly Gallagher and KSU English and Political Science double major Gabrielle Seed. It sheds light on emotional abuse in heterosexual romantic relationships and what happens if and when it remains invisible to the people directly and indirectly involved. It suggests that sometimes relationships that appear most loving and stable are the ones that contain the most turmoil and dependence. It explores the complexities of female friendships and how abusive romantic relationships negatively affect them. It examines the impact of poor mental health on both abusers and the abused. Finally, Rubber Meets Road considers abusive relationships and affected relationships (such as, in this case, friendship) from several perspectives, challenging the audience to determine who is “right” and who is “wrong” and to pay attention and again be challenged when those roles may actually begin to switch.This thesis—the play itself as well as the descriptive and analytical account of itscreation—is the result of roughly three semesters’ work. We spent Summer 2017researching, planning, and otherwise preparing to draft the play. We spent Fall 2017actually writing the play. And we spent Spring of 2018 finding a performance space,casting the characters, building a production team, producing the play itself, and writing the present account.The following details the planning and thought that went into the final script andproduction of Rubber Meets Road and how both were influenced and guided by reading, research, specific classes, workshops, and the analysis of other productions. It concludes with a discussion of the most important lessons this process taught us.