January 2020

In the aftermath of a horrific incident, four college students reunite for a single night at an Airbnb in their hometown. All the Difference, my original play, combines technology and audience participation with traditional playmaking elements for a unique branching narrative that’s different every night. Facilitated by a custom-designed app, the fifteen-person audience must make 6 decisions throughout the play, and each one dramatically changes the story that’s played out on stage. The decisions range from seemingly arbitrary to morally ambiguous to purposefully misleading. Actors and technicians will prepare for every possible outcome and be able to switch storylines instantaneously.

This play focuses, both thematically and structurally, on the decisions we make and the consequences that they have on others’ lives. Audiences are forced to confront the decisions they make (individually and collectively) for the characters on stage. 

​

All the Difference was workshopped with Young Jean Lee and produced at Stanford University by Ram's Head Theatrical Society in 2020.

​

​

PLAYWRIGHT's NOTE

​

Hey, it’s me again. While you’re enjoying your cake, I’d like to look back at
how this all started. Around this time last year, I was sitting alone in my
dorm room watching (playing?) Bandersnatch, Netflix’s groundbreaking
interactive film. I was simultaneously procrastinating both a problem set I
had to do for my “Decision Making Analysis” class and a grant I had to write
for the metatheatrical play I was about to direct. That’s when it hit me. The
idea to create a branching narrative play for a live audience,
where people would be forced to confront their theatrical desires in an
interactive group setting. I began to develop several different narratives
for this form, including adaptations of Macbeth and Cabin in the Woods.
Eventually, though, I realized I wanted to tell a story about real people and
real choices. This play is a work of fiction, but it reflects the actual
decisions we make and the intended and unintended consequences those
decisions have on others’ lives.

The backdrop of this play is a school shooting, a terrifying nightmare that
is quickly becoming our normal reality. As of December 2019, as I write this,
at least 245 schools in the United States have experienced a shooting.
This past year, there were more mass shootings than days. And recent
Stanford research has shown that the impact on these shootings extend
beyond the victims to include the mental health of survivors. Though this play focuses on the aftermath of a fictional shooting, I urge you to consider what choices brought these characters here in the first place.

This play aims to incite conversations surrounding mental health, violence,
toxic relationships, and consent. But most importantly, I hope it serves as
a mirror that we can all use to grapple with our role, as audience members,
in consuming these narratives. A collision of theater and technology, All the Difference uniquely explores the implication of choice and the human desire for chaos.

Thank you to all of my supporters who have helped turn this crazy idea into
a remarkably real piece of art. Thank you to Young Jean Lee, who made me
believe I could be a playwright. Thank you to the road I’ve taken; it has
certainly made all the difference.