but you're okay

by Stephanie Swirsky

A hyper-naturalistic exploration of how we respond to trauma in an age of dick pics and emojis. Olivia's been raped by her friend, Eric. But she seems totally fine. And if you think about it, Olivia and Eric would make a really cute couple.

A hyper-naturalistic exploration of how we respond to trauma in an age of dick pics and emojis. Olivia's been raped by her friend, Eric. But she seems totally fine. And if you think about it, Olivia and Eric would make a really cute couple.

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but you're okay

Recommended by

  • Melody DeRogatis: but you're okay

    This play does a great job of capturing assault, and all the complicated feelings and aftermath that comes along with it. College is a complicated time, and sexual assault is too often normalized... this play creates a lot of tension surrounding that. It is very realistic, and brilliantly captures the #MeToo moments that so many of us experience. Such an important play.

    This play does a great job of capturing assault, and all the complicated feelings and aftermath that comes along with it. College is a complicated time, and sexual assault is too often normalized... this play creates a lot of tension surrounding that. It is very realistic, and brilliantly captures the #MeToo moments that so many of us experience. Such an important play.

  • Shaun Leisher: but you're okay

    “...I don’t know it was creepy and fun.” This line comes about halfway through this brilliant play and perfectly sums up everything that happened before and will happen after. This is a play where many things can be true at once, despite how at odds those things can seem to be. The relationships here are messy which seems to be what happens in college. Things aren’t messy in terms of what happens but how it’s dealt with. This is a play about sexual assault that has no clear resolution the way life very often doesn’t.

    “...I don’t know it was creepy and fun.” This line comes about halfway through this brilliant play and perfectly sums up everything that happened before and will happen after. This is a play where many things can be true at once, despite how at odds those things can seem to be. The relationships here are messy which seems to be what happens in college. Things aren’t messy in terms of what happens but how it’s dealt with. This is a play about sexual assault that has no clear resolution the way life very often doesn’t.

  • Nick Malakhow: but you're okay

    This spot on rendering of college aged young people navigating their first few years away from home provides a powerful exploration of acquaintance sexual assault and the ways victims are gaslighted by their perpetrators and others around them. The irregular, natural sounding dialogue perfectly captures several distinct voices. The characters have well developed senses of humor as well which, in some scenes provides some great laughs, and in other scenes some of the deepest and most heartbreaking cuts. This piece should be regularly explored on college campuses.

    This spot on rendering of college aged young people navigating their first few years away from home provides a powerful exploration of acquaintance sexual assault and the ways victims are gaslighted by their perpetrators and others around them. The irregular, natural sounding dialogue perfectly captures several distinct voices. The characters have well developed senses of humor as well which, in some scenes provides some great laughs, and in other scenes some of the deepest and most heartbreaking cuts. This piece should be regularly explored on college campuses.

View all 4 recommendations

Character Information

Pete, Travis and Will are played by the same actor.
  • Olivia
    Character Age
    19
  • Emily
    Character Age
    19
  • Meredith
    Character Age
    19
  • Eric
    Character Age
    19
  • Will
    Character Age
    19
  • Pete
    Character Age
    19
  • Travis
    Character Age
    19
  • Connor
    Character Age
    19

Development History

  • Type Workshop, Organization UMass New Play Lab, Year 2016
  • Type Reading, Organization The Dirty Blondes, Year 2015