IRL

IRL Is a social commentary that explores intimacy in the age of new media. This is a story about therelationship between a couple that fall fast in love, and quickly find out their individual styles ofcommunication don't match."With the conquest of distance, nearness grows ever remote."The digital age: Home computers, smart phones, tablets, apps; these are things that all have madethe world a much smaller place, and have created, in their own way, a world of their own.Nebulous, ever changing, this new digital world is a place of dubious navigation and disposablecommunication.Gabriel Messenger, IT guru and part-time beat poet, exists within the schism between the real worldand the digital one. Generally a quiet and reserved individual, Gabe finds it easier and morecomfortable communicating in the digital format instead of IRL (in real life).Enter Alethea Worth, an enchanting young woman who is both beautiful and guarded. Alethea'stake on the digital realm is that it is superficial, disposable, and ineffective as a means ofinterpersonal communication. However, when she meets Gabe, sparks fly.Against the backdrop of downtown St. Louis both the real and the digital, we watch Gabe andAlethea navigate the shifting landscape of contrasting ideas. Mounting challenges arise when thepair must decide which of the two realities in which to live their love, and how to cross that chasmbetween the real and the intangible.Their whirlwind relationship over the course of a matter of weeks challenges us to consider thevalue of communication and human connection, whether it be with our online personae, or IRL.