After 9/11 it became commonplace to go through security screenings before boarding planes. Now we even have to open our knapsacks and pocketbooks before going to a Paul McCartney concert or watching the Mets play. Complete strangers look through our things and sometimes pat us down. There are cameras on every corner “protecting” us as they monitor our lives. How much of our privacy are we willing to give up for our security? How much of our personal lives are we willingly and sometimes unwittingly sharing when we interact with technology?
These and other questions are tackled in the provocative new play Privacy at The Public Theater. Starring Daniel Radcliffe as The Writer, Privacy engages the tech-savvy audience members immediately with placards in the seats in front of them. With instructions like that of an airplane, they are told to fully charge their phones and leave them on. If like me, you feel lost without your smart phone, this is somehow comforting. Privacy is immersive, interactive theater but only if you have a smart phone and if you choose to be involved.
The Writer has just ended a relationship and now feels disconnected from society. He needs help to interact and gets counseling from professionals. The Playbill offers a bibliography of experts and notables who were interviewed for the script of this play and whose words appear as dialogue in the show. A small group of talented performers, including Rachel Dratch, Reg Rogers, Michael Countryman, Raffi Barsoumian and De’Adre Aziza play multiple roles.