What Became of Us
by Shayan Lotfi

Name: What Became of Us
Brand: Shayan Lotfi
SKU: 9780573712074
Rating: 3 (1 reviews)

Off-Broadway

What Became of Us Book Cover — What Became of Us Cover

Highlights

Female

Male

75 mins Present Day Multicultural Casting Role(s) for Senior Actor(s) Bare Stage/Simple Set Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes

Synopsis

Two siblings.

Q was born there.

Z was born here.

How do they maintain their connections to The Old Country and to This Country – and to each other?

Spanning decades and continents, What Became of Us is an exploration of family, migration, and memory through the eyes of life’s longest relationship.

Press Reviews

"This is a universal story about siblings, and the way they slide tectonically along and past each other. The two’s diverging and converging relationships are mined with exquisite structure and refinement, creating a poignant look at the ways family is built upon and elaborated… What Became of Us is a gift to immigrants and families; a play that begs to be performed by every possible diasporic group, and which will grow richer as different casts widen and deepen its truths."
— Theatrely

"A soaring, poetic play you’ll want to see twice... Memories are the fuel the show runs on, but what’s happening is no simple feat of recollection. Rather, like characters in Faulkner’s novels Q and Z seem to exhibit a form of hyperthymesia so that memories from dozens of years ago come back with athletic ease and acquire a vividness that makes them seem more real than the present moment... but Lotfi complicates the idea of disinterring the past by having his characters not remember – or deliberately elide – certain details: their full names, their precise country of origin… The vagueness is intentional. It makes the play roomy enough to accommodate different kinds of backstories, and different actors inhabiting Q and Z will emphasize different chords... What Became of Us is powerful enough to work as an elixir on one’s memory, no matter which cast is performing."
— Observer

"Shayan Lotfi’s touching 75-minute two-hander, seemingly set in a peaceful here and now, detail[s] the differing lives yet ultimately unbreakable bond between two siblings… This poetic work speaks to all of us who have had to navigate complicated familial relationships."
— CitiTourNYC

"Most affecting… it casts a certain spell… Lotfi will zero in [on] details as specific as the color of a door, while leaving nationality pointedly unstated… He has a clear grasp of character and an unsentimental eye for family conflict, such that you experience a kind of double vision, seeing Q and Z both as individuals and as part of larger repeated patterns. Over the years, the two siblings fight, stop talking and haltingly make their way back to each other. Lotfi doesn’t tie their lives up neatly, allowing the characters both pain and grace."
— Vulture

"A heartbreaker... a decades-spanning tale of two siblings in an immigrant family."
— New York Times

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
Z Younger sibling of Q by seven years. First in the family to be born in This Country. While the roles of Q and Z are to be performed by actors of the same diasporic background, this can be of any region of the “Global South” without any changes to the text. The “Global South” refers to countries located in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia (including West Asia/Middle East). Feel free to use the casting of this play to mindfully reflect the realities of your community. Please cast actors of the appropriate age (sixties and older). The roles should be performed with accents reflecting an upbringing in This Country in the “Global North.”	—	—	Younger sibling of Q by seven years. First in the family to be born in This Country. While the roles of Q and Z are to be performed by actors of the same diasporic background, this can be of any region of the “Global South” without any changes to the text. The “Global South” refers to countries located in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia (including West Asia/Middle East). Feel free to use the casting of this play to mindfully reflect the realities of your community. Please cast actors of the appropriate age (sixties and older). The roles should be performed with accents reflecting an upbringing in This Country in the “Global North.”
Q In the winter of her life. Was born in The Old Country in the “Global South,” immigrated with her parents to This Country in the “Global North” six years later.	female	—	In the winter of her life. Was born in The Old Country in the “Global South,” immigrated with her parents to This Country in the “Global North” six years later.