CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR

by Christine Evans

CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR (previously titled YOU ARE DEAD. YOU ARE HERE.) is a multi-media play that tells the charged story of the interwoven lives of an African-American soldier, an Iraqi girl blogger and a white military therapist, through the lens of the technologies that connect them. Inspired by the convergence of video game environments, virtual technology and military research, it is the world’s first theatrical production licensed to incorporate animated landscapes from “Virtual Iraq,” a virtual-reality (VR) program based on war video-games and used in veterans’ PTSD therapy. Winner of the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts Playwriting/ Screenwriting Fellowship, 2013. It was developed through HERE's New York HARP artist residency program and elsewhere, with director Joseph Megel and media designer Jared Mezzocchi; slated for production at StreetSigns, Chapel Hill, September 2017.

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CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR

Recommended by

Cheryl Bear: CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR by Christine Evans

“

An incredibly important and powerful tribute to spreading awareness about PTSD after war. Excellent work.

An incredibly important and powerful tribute to spreading awareness about PTSD after war. Excellent work.

”
Eugene O'Neill Theater Center: CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR by Christine Evans

“

It is the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's pleasure to recommend Christine Evans and their play You Are Dead. You Are Here. as a finalist for our 2012 National Playwrights Conference. The play rose through a competitive, anonymous, multileveled selection process that took nearly nine months to execute. As one finalist out of hundreds of submissions, the strength of this play’s writing has allowed this work to prosper in such a competitive selection process.

It is the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's pleasure to recommend Christine Evans and their play You Are Dead. You Are Here. as a finalist for our 2012 National Playwrights Conference. The play rose through a competitive, anonymous, multileveled selection process that took nearly nine months to execute. As one finalist out of hundreds of submissions, the strength of this play’s writing has allowed this work to prosper in such a competitive selection process.

”

Development History

Type Workshop, Organization HERE, Year 2012
Type Reading, Organization Institute for Creative Technologies, USC, Year 2012
Type Workshop, Organization UNC Chapel Hill- Process Series, Year 2011
Type Workshop, Organization Davis Center for the Performing Arts, Georgetown University, Year 2011
Type Workshop, Organization American Repertory Theater, Year 2010

Production History

Type Professional, Organization StreetSigns Center for Literature and Performance, Year 2017
Type Professional, Organization HERE, Year 2013

Genre

drama,

experimental,

political

Subject Matter Keywords

multimedia,

war,

Virtual Iraq

Length

60-90 minutes,

90 minutes to two hours

Cast Size

Age of Intended Audience

all ages

Narrative Attributes

Centers Characters of Color

Supporting Materials

Script Sample

Evans - Closer Than They Appear 10p. Sample.pdf

Supporting Video

http://vimeo.com/51167589,

http://www.christineevanswriter.com/press.html,

https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/40007811@N05/sets/72157633950125014/

Reviews

Show Business Weekly

“
A deeply affective and politically interesting night of theater. The close collaboration between playwright Christine Evans, director Joseph Megel, and media designer Jared Mezzocchi made for a provocative intertwining of virtual and real worlds.
”
Indie Theater Now

“
You Are Dead. You Are Here was one of the best shows I have experienced in 2013. I’ve read the articles in the Science Times about PTSD but never was I this moved and inspired to fully grasp the extent of the suffering that soldiers returning from combat suffer
”
Curtain Up

“
Anyone who thinks it a good idea to become more engaged in the civil war in Syria [...] is advised to see You Are Dead. You Are There, a gripping and impassioned new play by Christine Evans [which] uses multi-media to combine real-life with virtual life in a powerful way.
”