SPIDER

Cast: 6 actors
Run time: 90 minutes

“Baby Spiderman KILLED EVIL Spider!!” blows up on YouTube Kids. A rogue program escapes the Simulation — in a video game called Awakenings. And a choir prepares to sing with one voice. When a school shooting reveals the delicate web connecting these events, the people tangled within it start to wonder: who’s to blame? A play about iPad kids, collective trauma, and what we trust AI to do.

“Listen carefully:
I am the end of your world.”

Press

“The most impactful show I’ve seen this fall. … A show that feels completely authentic – achingly human characters grappling with difficult situations in highly nuanced ways. … Keep an eye out for future plays by Madeleine Adriance.” — Krista Garver, BroadwayWorld

“These mini-stories are a microcosm of our world, stories of isolation/loneliness; bravery and love; death and new life; hope and despair, et. al. and, perhaps, a ‘rage at the dying of the light.’ … It doesn't get any better than this, folks!” — Dennis Sparks

"‘SPIDER’ play tells stories of teens numbed by social media, gun violence,” Oregon Public Broadcasting

Development and Production History

Commission, Young Professionals Company, 2022
Educational, Young Professionals Company, 2023

Director/Dramaturg: Matthew B. Zrebski
Lighting Designer: Elliot Odette
Costume Designer: Erin MacGillivray
Sound Design and Original Music Composition: Matthew B. Zrebski
Scenic Charge Artist and Craftsperson: Emily Rusmisel

Photos by Lee McNeely