With the abundance of high-tech social media like Facebook, instant messaging and video chat, ways of keeping in touch with loved ones seem to be easier. Or is it? With so many ways to connect with people indirectly, are we losing that intimate, one to one connection with loved ones?
Drawing from actual emails, chat transcripts, and text messages, We Were Nothing! is an intimate site-specific theater experience about childhood friends staying connected and losing touch. The all too relatable play is about “besties” that have clearly grown apart after high school, but keep in touch by obligation. The characters hilariously act out awkward conversations through emails, text messages and social media, the most notable being the Facebook sequence. Yes, there was an actual scene where the actors played out a Facebook conversation. Of course, my favorite scene was the video chat. The friends had a conversation that ironically included the lyrics to Goyte’s song “Somebody That I Used To Know.” The play entertainingly makes you question the way you communicate with friends.
The piece was written by playwright Will Arbery, in collaboration with Shelley Fort, Elly Smokler, Emilie Soffe and Lisa Szolovits. The production is directed by Lisa Szolovits and stars Elly Smokler (Stop the Virgens at St. Ann’s Warehouse; member of The Bats) and Emilie Soffe (In the Blood at the Kennedy Center)
We Were Nothing! will be running until February 9th. The show will be performed inside a private residence near Union Square. Exact address and directions will be released only to ticket holders. Tickets are $20 and available online at www.artful.ly/store/events/2099.
