Community News

An Irvine theater experiment worked — and it’s returning to the stage

 

by: David Ihrig
Published: March 3, 2026

 

ANAHEIM...After a successful premiere that sparked conversation and audience engagement, Disconnected: The Stories We Stand to Lose returns this March as a visiting artist production at Chance Theater in Anaheim. Created by the Irvine Theater Company (ITC), the festival of seven original short plays explores how technology is reshaping human connection — from dating apps and influencer culture to family communication, elder isolation, online gambling, and artificial intimacy.

Originally developed and staged in Irvine, Disconnected was conceived as a bold experiment: could a group of local artists create new work rapidly using a neuroscience-informed, brain-based creative process — and would audiences respond? The answer, according to audience feedback and subsequent support, was yes.
The festival was created in just seven weeks by more than twenty artists using a rehearsal process that emphasizes attention, memory, and embodied experience over traditional line rehearsal. Six actors became first-time playwrights, writing new works that were then brought to life through this shared methodology.

One of the festival’s most talked-about elements was a live audience challenge woven directly into the performance. One of the seven plays was written entirely by artificial intelligence. At the end of each evening, audiences were invited to guess which one.

Across approximately 160 audience members, opinions were sharply divided between two of the final plays — a result that highlighted not the sophistication of the technology, but the performers’ success in creating meaning and coherence through live storytelling.

Audience response underscored the festival’s impact. According to post-show surveys, 77% of attendees reported consciously reflecting on how the themes related to their own lives. One audience member wrote, “Incredibly thought-provoking. It made me painfully aware of my misuse of technology. I’m determined to put my phone down more often and be present.”

The remount at Chance Theater also marks a new phase in ITC’s exploration of digital scenography. With support from a donor who believes in the company’s vision for the future of storytelling, ITC will incorporate a newly acquired 10’ x 20’ LED volume with additional panels for lighting. The donor has purchased the system and is underwriting its use, allowing the company to begin demonstrating a production style that integrates live performance with evolving visual environments.

The production also features the return of a deliberately non-human AI avatar character — not part of the audience guessing game — used as a thematic provocation. In one play, a character chooses to spend his limited resources interacting with a digital avatar of his deceased wife rather than purchasing the medicine keeping him alive, raising unsettling questions about comfort, dependency, and artificial intimacy.

Presented as part of Chance Theater’s Visiting Artists Program, Disconnected offers audiences another opportunity to experience a work that functions both as live theater and as a lens on contemporary life. While the technology continues to evolve, the heart of the festival remains unchanged: shared presence, human attention, and stories that invite reflection rather than instruction.

Performance Information:

Disconnected: The Stories We Stand to Lose
Chance Theater, Anaheim

• March 20 – 8:00 PM
• March 22 – 3:00 PM
• March 23 – 8:00 PM (Monday performance)
• March 27 – 8:00 PM
• March 28 – 3:00 PM & 8:00 PM
• March 29 – 3:00 PM

Tickets available at: [LINK]

itc@irvinetheater.com | (949) 422-6896

The Irvine Theater Company is a civic arts organization exploring the future of storytelling through innovative production methods, community engagement, and interdisciplinary collaboration.