The Theatre Times: What happens when intimacy becomes tainted? And what does that mean for a young queer person exploring both their newfound sexuality and a burgeoning online world? You Don’t Have to Do Anything tells a story around identity and trauma that’s equal parts emotional and witty. The play will enjoy a workshop production from October 13th to 16th at IRT Theater in New York City.
4 comments:
As someone who was, in the wise words of a recently popular TikTok audio, “there when it was written” the early days of the internet were buck wild. I wasn’t even there during the original *original* days, but I was part of the first generation of people who grew up with the internet. I distinctly remember being in that same/very similar situation of chat rooms and meeting people and figuring things out and it was, certainly, an experience. It’s a little shocking to me to see work for something that I grew up with, although really it was *that* long ago even if it feels like it was last week. I really wish I could see it, from how the author described it I have a feeling it was done with tact. I wonder how they handled the line between accommodating the show for people who, like me, have experienced the events in the story and for your regular folk who have no idea what they are in for.
The idea of interaction being a wholly different experience online vs. in person, and then also trying to represent that on stage, creates a ton of interesting levels and concepts to consider re. how we perceive communication. Often coming-of-age or identity-seeking stories involve protagonists having positive formative experiences; I think it has the potential to be really impactful that this story does not necessarily do that. Online spaces provide great potential for communication and connections during events like the pandemic, but can also be dangerous for young and vulnerable people like Teddy. I think it’s important to show that memories and bad experiences can have a lasting impact, and Teddy’s journey to still coming to accept himself while also hopefully distancing himself from traumatic influences in his life. I thought the line calling it “a love story with no love” was a really poignant way to sum that up.
I'm really glad someone is covering what was an essential part of growing up for a lot of our generation's queer people. Although I wasn't in the first chat rooms, I still do remember a lot of concerning or different ways of communications growing up. The internet, especially the corner of the internet that talks about being LGBT and that sort of life, did change all of our lives in some way. I think that it will be helpful to discuss how growing up in the “wild west” era of internet safety did negatively affect a lot of us: the prevalence of groomers, the lack of protection/oversharing of private information, and things that can only be defined as chronically online. I think that tackling this issue on the theatre can help show us and future generations the ways in which online and in person interactions can differ.
When reading about “You Don’t Have to Do Anything”, it comes as a surprise to me to be able to read about a play that so accurately encompasses the online queer experience. The play itself talks about memorial themes of online chat rooms and unpleasant interactions online that, for a lot of queer people, myself included, felt like normalcy in an unfamiliar landscape. In particular, it was really interesting to hear the playwright talk about his interactions with the director, because they both had a level of understanding with each other due to growing up in a similar queer atmosphere. This show, though still within the workshopping phase, would be a monumental piece to hit mainstage theatre.
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