STEVE OF TOMORROW

“a solid, smart, and very funny look at our present and our potential future.” – American Theater Magazine

“a chaotic, message-laden, technical maelstrom of a puppet show” -Theater Pizzazz

“a rapid, frequently funny, multi-media assault on the senses.” – stagebuddy.com

Ralph created a science fiction blog that is popular among a small, over-intellectual sci-fi fan community. After a heated debate with his subscribers on whether time travel is possible or not, he decides to post an open invitation for any time traveler that happens to be traveling in this current time to stay at his small suburban apartment rent free for as long as they want. Immediately after posting the invitation onto the blog, a stranger appears at the door claiming to be from the future. His name is Steve. Ralph had hoped that Steve would confirm his idealistic vision of the future, but Steve ends up being a huge disappointment. He is lazy, uncommunicative, and doesn’t really know much about the future he comes from. He is exhausted by everything and inspired by nothing.

Is he from the future at all? Steve’s presence also becomes a volatile subject between Ralph and his live-in boyfriend, Scott, who was never consulted on anything about someone crashing on their couch.

Meanwhile, a hurricane is approaching Ralph and Scott’s area. News and social media are saturated with the disastrous weather pattern and it seems like everyone in the world is talking about the storm’s most mundane qualities (like how to stay fashionable in the hurricane, competitive news coverage, and popular hurricane party cocktails). The notion that the hurricane is even dangerous is completely lost and the public begins to celebrate its arrival without preparing for it’s devastating effects.  Ralph and Scott are unconcerned about the storm; they would much rather focus on the future that Steve is a part of…until everything collides.

Steve of Tomorrow is about supply, demand, and the hazards of getting what we want. The play casts doubt on humanity’s welfare being reflected in the recent explosion of technological advancements. Are we uniting as a populous to build the idealistic future that we portray in science fiction, or is our voice and reason being drowned out in a cacophony of images and sound bites?  We are complacent in being sold a counterfeit future. We live in a rented structure that has been built to satisfy mankind’s idle nature. Steve of Tomorrow is about how we watch that structure burn.

2016
SFX Festival @ The Performance Project – NYC
Dream Music Puppetry Program @ HERE Arts Center – NYC

2017
Collapsable Hole – NYC

VIDEO:

Steve Of Tomorrow Clip from David Commander on Vimeo.