Spread the Love: Virtual Family by Christian Kiley

This week on Spread the Love, Lindsay and Craig talk about Virtual Family, a futuristic drama for teenagers by Christian Kiley.

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Transcript

Welcome to Spread the Love. This week we’re talking about Virtual Family by Christian Kiley who also wrote The Art of Rejection. Virtual Family is a ‘what if’ play. What if we took our dependence on technology to an extreme? Further to that, if technology is supposed to cure all ills and solve all problems, why aren’t the characters in this play more happy?

I love this play. I love ‘what if’ scenarios, and I love plays that look at a future which is really not that far away. Virtual Family is a great alternative to a traditional family drama with total 21st century relevance. Craig what do you love about Virtual Family?

What I love about Virtual Family because it scares me. And it scares me because the “what if” in the story feels to me like it really could happen. And it’s not a future that I would like to live in. Also, for a play that’s about the future and about technology, it’s surprisingly simple to stage. It can be done with as little as a couple of chairs. And if you’re at one of those alternative schools that doesn’t have chairs, you can cut those too. That’s it for Spread the love.