The Apartment Series features three shows that are not only immediately and most obviously tied together by their setting, but that complement each other through stark contrasts and eerie similarities.

Each of these plays features the identity formation of youth under pressure. Tape explores the reliability of memory, coming face-to-face with guilt, and processing trauma. Orphans explores youth as malleability, showcasing how growth is subject to trauma and violence as much as it is to positive influence. Seminar highlights youths’ obsessive competitive nature, as identity becomes linked to achievement, validation, and intellectual dominance.

Toxic masculinity as an aspect of character identity plays a crucial role in each work, as Tape displays incredulity towards women, Orphans displays men destroying each other, and Seminar displays the manipulative and destructive behaviors men in power exert upon women and men deemed “lesser than.”