In a world where personal communication has been widely digitized—through the advent of Facebook, texting and online dating—it becomes very clear that every interaction isn't always what it seems. At least according to Mary Steelsmith's award-wining play, "Isaac, I Am," showing (on behalf of the Raconteur Theatre Company) through March 16 at MadLab Theatre.
The play chronicles chat-room junkie Angela (Lorelei Moore) and presents an eerie representation of her online correspondence as it might play out in "reality." She becomes "romantically" involved with Ben (Derek McGrath), a computer whiz who desperately longs to meet her in person but soon finds herself in the midst of a moral conundrum after she begins a "relationship" with Isaac (Stephen Woosley), a father distraught over the recent death of his son, Josh (Zachary Elgin Lape).
Moore led the cast as the play's heroine, strongly portraying Angela's naive interest in the people she encounters online and her rollercoaster of emotions as she finds herself constantly negotiating between reality and "virtu-ality."
Woosley brings some of the show's most emotionally powerful moments. The initial grief over Josh's death and his following breakdown are gripping.
Lape brings an innocent and believable charm to Josh's character, who visibly suffers from leukemia, while McGarth's Ben depicts stark passion (and later resentment) for a relationship constantly competing with Angela's "imagined" online family.
Though Steelsmith presents a very modern and intriguing storyline, it is Michael Brewer's set design that truly catapults the viewer into Angela's jilted world. Everyone's initial contact with Angela is from behind three wooden "portals," draped with curtains of string, capturing the disconnect that's often associated with online chatting.
Throughout the play, Angela leaves the laptop at her desk and meets the person she's chatting with at center stage, showing how personal she thought she was becoming with whomever was on the other side—a testament to the insightful direction by Mary-Aileen St. Cyr.
"Isaac, I Am" ultimately delves into the psychological effects of becoming emotionally attached to someone you've never met, an issue that seems to have fallen by the wayside with the continuing advancements in social technology.
Tickets for "Isaac, I Am" are $8 and $12. Head over to www.rtheatre.org for more information.
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