Delve into the lives of teenagers grappling with the pressures of the online world when TimeLine Theatre’s 2024 TimeLine South teen ensemble presents the world premiere of Influmedia: The Connection Bug.
Performances are Friday, August 2 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, August 3 at 2 p.m., at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, Theater East, at the University of Chicago, 915 E. 60th Street, in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. The program runs approximately 90 minutes, including the performance and a post-show discussion with the teen artists.
Tickets are free but reservations are strongly recommended. Reserve today at timelinetheatre.com/timeline-south or call the TimeLine Box Office at 773.281.8463 x6.
For the past six weeks, TimeLine Theatre’s TimeLine South youth ensemble has been learning skills in acting, writing, movement, and design from professional Chicago theater artists. Throughout, they’ve been working toward creating and staging their own original work.
Their resulting play, Influmedia, introduces a group of high school students who find out their school’s Instagram page is hacked. Through a series of interconnected stories, audiences witness the emotional turmoil and resilience of those caught in the digital web of harassment. Suspicions arise and friendships are questioned, shedding light on the urgent need for empathy and understanding in this increasingly digital life. Will the teens be able to resolve these online issues before they leak their way into the physical world? With Influmedia, TimeLine’s next gen theater artists explore the dark side of connectivity by highlighting the devastating effects of social media addiction, and the struggle to create a real identity in a virtual landscape
Now celebrating its seventh year, TimeLine South is a unique arts program that provides teens a safe space for self-expression, creativity, and ensemble building on the south side of Chicago. Teens have the opportunity to learn basic skills in theater and performing arts from some of the most experienced and dynamic artists in the city, and explore topics with which they feel a strong curiosity and connection. TimeLine South promotes leadership in the arts and teaches teens that theatre can be a vehicle for social justice.
TimeLine South is part of TimeLine’s Living History Education Program, which brings the company’s mission to Chicago Public Schools through an arts-integration residency. For more information, visit timelinetheatre.com/timeline-south.
This presentation is presented in partnership with Theater and Performance Studies at the University of Chicago and partially sponsored by The Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts.