NYU Skirball presents the world premiere of TEXTPLAY, by Archer Eland, a virtual play that may be the world’s first text play. In TEXTPLAY, dialog appears as an exchange of text messages that can be viewed on mobile and desktop devices. It is available On Demand, September 20 – December 3, and can watched from anywhere in the world. Running time is 35 minutes.

In this witty and surprisingly touching production, the great playwrights Tom Stoppard and Samuel Beckett find themselves trapped in some inescapable other universe, only able to communicate via text message. Together they try to make sense of their lives and legacies, grappling with (and occasionally triumphing in) a medium that has consumed us all.

Just as the invention of radio opened up new opportunities to present theater, TEXTPLAY explores the universal – but unspoken – dramatics of texting: the expectation of the bubbling ellipses, the texts that are typed but then deleted, the power of the well-chosen emoji. Texting is now the single most popular online activity of all Americans and the dominant form of communication for those under 50.
Textplay is both a tribute to two giants of the theater and an exploration of our 21st-century lives – how we are all struggling to find connection in an increasingly digital world.