Seeing beyond appearances is challenging at the start of any relationship. The challenge is even greater in Lize Lewy’s enthralling new play, Longing, in which appearances are determined by virtual reality.

At the start of the play, a young man named Mason signs into PLATFORMS, an app that lets strangers meet in virtual chat rooms. What is special about PLATFORMS is not evident until after Mason has dismissed the first three requests to enter his chat room, whose prompt is “Longing.”

The fourth request is from a user named Lola, who says she is just looking for a good time. When Mason initiates a connection, a totally realistic representation of Lola joins Mason on the pleasant dock where he has been using his computer.

It is a virtual environment in which Mason and the background are no more real but just as realistic as Lola. Most surprisingly, the avatars can touch as well as see each other. This technology is beyond the current state of the art, so it is no surprise when dialogue reveals the action takes place in 2064.

PLATFORMS has templates that enable users to change their appearance and their environment. Mason says he isn’t wearing a template. Lola admits she isn’t showing her face and has changed a few things, but she says her appearance is mostly her own. Are they telling the truth? They can’t know for sure, and neither can we.

Mason’s dock is a custom environment. He pulled it from a picture of a a favorite place on the Mississippi Gulf Coast using a premium version of PLATFORMS. Mason uses another feature of the premium version to place a censor on his room that limits how much touching is possible.

Mason and Lola are using PLATFORMS for very different reasons. He is lonely. She is bored. Mason is diffident but wants to make a connection. Lola is self-possessed and impulsive. She has learned a great deal from previous encounters, both real and virtual.

The play conveys a deep understanding of both the characters and the technology they are using. Fascinating conversations with completely believable give-and-take lead to moments of astonishing eroticism.

Lewy’s writing is brilliant, as were the performances by Andre Navid Eslamian as Mason and Leta DeBardeleben as Lola. Kay Ailee Bush’s direction and Summer Baer’s intimacy direction were very sensitive to the buildup and release of tension in the characters’ relationship.

Bush and Lewy designed the attractive set for the dock. Bush’s costume said a great deal about characters’ personalities. Zachary Grimm created a convincing atmosphere for the virtual reality space with his lighting, sound, and projection design. The producers were Lewy, Grimm, and Pierce Abplanalp.

If Longing had not run during a busy theater weekend, I would have gladly seen it a second time. Knowing how the play ended would not have spoiled the compelling interplay between two insightfully drawn characters.

—Gerry Kowarsky

Photo by Summer Baer
From the left, Leta DeBardeleben as Lola and Andre Navid Eslamian as Mason in Longing.