All About Creating “REEL LIFE OR REAL LIFE?” with the 2025/26 Youth Artistic Instigators

How does social media build and break relationships? Can we use our online presence for good? How do the web and artificial intelligence affect how we create and consume art? And what’s the deal with tech bros?! These are the questions our 2025/26 Youth Artistic Instigators set out to answer as they devised and wrote their piece, REEL LIFE OR REAL LIFE? After months of creating and rehearsing, it’s finally time for their piece to take the stage at NYTW.

Since October, our group of students from all over New York City has been meeting weekly here on East 4th St.

“First, it was a lot of getting to know each other and experimenting with group chemistry,” says one of our Youth Artistic Instigators, Ligaya Cullo. “We did a lot of exercises that were all about collaboration, being together and seeing where our different skills would best support the production.”

Once we got to know one another as a group, we moved into figuring out what we might want to create for our show. The ensemble, directed by Lead Facilitator/Director Claudia Acosta, Associate Director Julie Monteleone, and NYU Assistant Directing Intern Audrey Cohen, decided we wanted to use comedy to bring light to issues that the students had on their minds.

Claudia (left) and members of the YAI ensemble after seeing Tartuffe

Starting our crash course into comedy, Julie led sessions in physical comedy and clowning, and I led a session all about improv and spontaneity. Then, after seeing Tartuffe as part of the NYTW season, Claudia reflected with the ensemble on how we could utilize farce and satire in our work. Then, she introduced snippets of comedic works like David Ives’ All in the Timing and Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels as examples of how we could structure our own episodic piece.

After developing their comedic toolbox, and a lot of brainstorming on different issues, the ensemble decided to focus their piece on social media, technology, and artificial intelligence and how these affect our relationships to one another in society.

Starting in January, we divided the ensemble into small groups to each devise and write a short scene inspired by this theme. Each group posed a central question, such as “How does social media affect our perception of ourselves/others?” and then set to work playing and writing. In the end, the students developed five distinct vignettes that form the central story of their piece, Reel Life or Real Life?

The ensemble working on chart paper to write their character and scene outlines

“With this year being my second year,” says returning ensemble member Lily Chesler, “it was easier for me to think of ideas and create scenes that will impact the audience and, since this is a comedy, to get them to laugh.”

The humorous, caricature-ish world of influencers, tech bros, artists, and innovators that the students created is established further by comedic choices from sound/projections designer Luke Santy and lighting designer Josh Martinez-Davis. Luke and Josh’s designs perfectly “yes and” the jokes the students have written by adding in references to genres, like sitcom and over-the-top horror. And amidst these farcical moments, when the script finds more tender or serious tones, their isolated lighting and ambient sound allow for the students’ impassioned messages to the audiences to sink in.

Now after an energetic final dress rehearsal, the students have finally arrived at Opening Night, excitedly anticipating this weekend and sharing their work with their friends and family.

“My favorite moment I have to say was the very first time we did the dress rehearsal. I was nervous, but I got it!” said Erick Cadmilema.

And ultimately, after the show is over, the ensemble will take with them the memories of a comedy well done and all that they experienced throughout the program.

“I learned lots of theatre techniques I didn’t know,” says ensemble member Wally Federman. “I learned more about cooperation and working together as a team, and about how to connect different stories into one cohesive piece.”

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REEL LIFE OR REAL LIFE? is now running at the NYTW 4th St Theatre from Friday April 10th to Sunday April 12th. Read more about the show and RSVP here!

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Categories: Youth Artistic Instigators. Tags: Education and Youth Artistic Instigators.