I have always firmly believed that when you boil all of life's essential desires down to one single element it is this: We all want to matter.
Matter to our families, matter to our community, matter to our romantic partners, matter that we even exist.
Finally, someone has written a play with that central theme. Yes, Rise and Fall of a Teenage Cyber Queen, inspired by true events, is a provocative and engaging probe of the image that we project online. With so many stories in the news about bullying online, this piece explores the perils that can exist. But it's really about so much more.
In this play, we meet the members of a family in a small town, and quickly learn that all is not well there. The young teen girl is consumed with turning on her camera for the online community to see, her brother is looking to establish a gay relationship to live his truth, the uptight, crunchy granola mother is secretly seeing her daughter's teacher, and the step father seems very fabulous and straight laced…until the second act.
Needless to say, everyone in this play has a secret, and everyone truly is searching for that one thing or relationship that will validate who they are. And feel like they really matter. In or out of cyberspace.
Produced by LabRats Theatre Company, with crisp dialogue and insights by playwright Lindsay Joy Murphy, and sharp direction by Padraic Lillis, this is one off-off Broadway play well worth trekking to Tribeca and the cool Access Theater for.
Rise and Fall of a Teenage Cyberqueen has a short run through March 17th.
Catch it while you can. www.thelabratsnyc.om
