The Ensemble Studio Theatre/Alfred P Sloan Foundation and The Civilians present
a new play by Sam Chanse, directed by Steve Cosson
featuring Sonnie Brown, Curran Connor*, Emma Kikue, Robert Lee Leng, and Pisay Pao
available for free sTREAMING September 8 - 25!
After a critically acclaimed run here in Hell’s Kitchen, we are so excited to bring Sam Chanse’s what you are now to entirely new audiences online. We’re passionate about sharing this story, and are trying to make it as accessible as possible by making streaming available at no cost.
Free to watch, but registration is required. Click the button above to sign up and watch! Closed captioning is available.
“A scientific testament to the power of storytelling to change minds.”
-THE NEW YORK TIMES“a multifaceted, devastatingly effective play"
-The New Yorker
Pia is a passionate young researcher investigating cutting-edge new ideas about how to heal the mind from traumatic memories. But her interest is also personal, deeply intertwined with her family’s history. When a figure from the past unexpectedly shows up, urging Pia’s mother to testify about her experiences during the violence of 1970s Cambodia, unresolved histories are brought to the surface. Pia must navigate through a latticework of interconnected memories: her relationship, her brother Darany and, centrally, her mother Chantrea—making discoveries that will radically alter everyone’s lives in the present.
what you are now asks what if our memories aren’t fixed, but change each time we recall the past? This world premiere by Sam Chanse is a thrillingly insightful new play that asks the audience to move through the shifting dance between the past and present, and to consider how with new understanding we might change “who you were then” to “what you are now.”
Dramaturg: Soriya Chum | Production Stage Manager: Fran Acuña-Almiron | Assistant Stage Manager: Lauren Nicole Jackson | Production Stage Manager for Filming: Bianca Boller | Scenic Designer: Riw Rakkulchon | Props Designer: Caitlyn Murphy | Lighting Designer: Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew | Costume Designer: An-lin Dauber | Sound Designer: Leah Gelpe | Original Music: Sophy Him | Technical Director: Steven Brenman | Casting: JZ Casting, Geoff Josselson, CSA and Katja Zarolinski, CSA