High School Play Examines the Role of Social Media

By: Elizabeth Lamb Email
By: Elizabeth Lamb Email

STAUNTON, Va -- Alex Szuba is a Robert E. Lee High School senior, but in the play, Brave New World, he's someone else entirely.

“I'm Bernard Marx, I'm the outcast society, and I've always been that way,” said Alex.

Szuba's character teaches the audience about social media, like how much society relies on it to communicate.

A look backstage reveals students using projectors and mirrors to get a message across to the audience about just how often we see social media messages.

Alex Oakes, the stage manager, said this version of the play is a warning about too much social media. It is also about making sure people form relationships outside of Facebook or Twitter.

“It's just a really good message to warn you about technology is great, and it's a wonderful thing, but don't let it consume you. Don't forget about your emotions and being a human,” said Oakes.

Szuba, or Marx, plays an outcast in the play as someone who thinks there is another way of living.

“It's just a social commentary,” said Szuba. “It's attacking social media in a way, but at the same time, it's trying to show that being fake and being different, maybe being fake isn't the best thing.”

There's a message they hope the audience will leave with, different than the messages you would get on a cell phone.

“There's more to life than just constantly being in communication with other people. There's a world out there other than just on the Internet or on the computer.”

The play runs from Nov. 15th through 17th and begins at 7 p.m.

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