The Civilians presents a Reading of
What You Are Now
written by Sam Chanse, directed by Steve Cosson
The daughter of a trauma survivor, Pia is driven by the desire to help free her mother from paralyzing fear memories – that’s why she became a neuroscientist. But the unexpected return of an old acquaintance triggers a storm of memory, forcing Pia to tangle with her own fears and paralysis, and pushing her to question deeply-held beliefs about her own past. How can changing our memories about who we were then change who we are now?
This reading is supported by the EST/Sloan Project.
This reading will be at New Dramatists (424 W 44th Street).
SAM CHANSE is the author of Trigger, Monument, or Four Sisters (A Sloth Play), The Opportunities of Extinction, Fruiting Bodies, The Other Instinct, What You Are Now, Lydia’s Funeral Video, about that whole dying thing, and Asian American Jesus. Her work has been developed with the Lark, Ma-Yi Theater, Cherry Lane, Leviathan Lab, Ars Nova, Broken Nose, Ensemble Studio Theatre/Sloan Project, and the Ojai Playwrights’ Conference, and is published by Kaya Press (Lydia’s Funeral Video) and TCG (The Kilroys List). Recent productions include Fruiting Bodies, directed by Shelley Butler, at Ma-Yi Theater (April/May 2019). She is a Lark Venturous Fellow, a resident playwright of New Dramatists, and a member of the Ma-Yi Writers Lab.
THE CIVILIANS Since its founding in 2001, The Civilians has established itself a leading innovator in new work and the premier investigative theater company in the country, having made numerous critically-acclaimed works derived from creative field research. The company has participated in several BAM Next Wave Festivals and has been produced at major New York and regional theaters including The Public Theater, Vineyard, Playwrights Horizons, Center Theatre Group, Humana Festival, Goodman Theater, ART, La Jolla Playhouse, and many others. For more information, visit www.thecivilians.org.
What You Are Now is part of this season's First Light Festival, learn more about the festival and other plays like this here.