Offshoot | Pegasus PlayLab 2026 at UCF School of Performing Arts

Presented as part of UCF’s Pegasus PlayLab, Offshoot is a play about what human-to-human connection might look like in a near-future world saturated with optimized AI relationships. In a dusty, abandoned classroom, a Teacher strives to connect with his new Pupil — a brilliant yet troubled seventeen-year-old who spends most of his time with his AI companion Paul, and the various “offshoot” entities Paul creates. Teacher and Pupil’s struggle to see each other as part of the same world leads to revelation, betrayal, and the painful possibilities of new ways of living…which is brought into deeper, more complex focus with the appearance of another Student. Offshoot is a sci-fi tinged psychological drama about what happens when people dare to be inconvenient to one another.

Playwright: Drew Paryzer | Director: Rina Gjoka

Each performance is followed by a talkback with the audience.