In a downtown theatre filled with flickering phone screens, fake blood, and feverish applause, two rising actors from very different universes collided on stage for one of this summer's most chaotic and talked-about theatrical debuts. The Summer I Turned Pretty breakout Christopher Briney and Ella Stiller, daughter of Hollywood royalty Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor, are sharing the stage in Dilaria, a darkly comic Gen-Z fever dream that slices through the culture of performative grief and digital fame like a glitter-covered scalpel.
Currently running Off-Broadway at DR2 Theatre through early August, Dilaria is the debut play by Julia Randall, a playwright and TikTok-era satirist whose dialogue flares with memes, malice, and terrifying relatability. The story follows Dilaria, a narcissistic influencer who fakes her own death to go viral—only to return and discover her best friend has capitalized on her memory. It's absurd, abrasive, and oddly touching, a kind of Gen Z Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? drenched in LED tears and manipulated hashtags.
Ella Stiller, in her first major professional role, plays the titular Dilaria with unnerving confidence, switching from seduction to sociopathy in a breath. "I wanted to tell a story that reflects how terrifying and funny it is to be a young woman right now," she told People ahead of opening night. The performance has earned her rave reviews and standing ovations—not to mention an opening night audience that included her visibly emotional parents.
Enter Briney as Noah, Dilaria's earnest and deeply confused boyfriend. Known to millions of teen drama fans as the soulful Conrad Fisher in The Summer I Turned Pretty, Briney's performance here is quieter but no less poignant. He brings emotional ballast to the play's high-octane satire, grounding the madness in genuine confusion and heartbreak. "It's a huge shift from television," he recently told Playbill. "With theatre, you don't get another take. Uou have to live it in real time. That scared me. And that's why I wanted to do it."
Briney's move to live theater mirrors a growing trend among screen stars reclaiming the intimacy and immediacy of the stage. In Dilaria, that leap pays off. His Noah is a slow burn, a moral center that viewers cling to as the play spirals into a glitter-drenched descent.
Together, Briney and Stiller anchor a piece that's both performance and provocation. As Dilaria reaches its gruesome, hilarious climax, the audience is left staring at their own reflection, smartphone in hand, wondering where empathy ends and algorithm begins.
It's not for everyone. Some critics have called the pacing uneven and the characters too archetypal. But no one can deny Dilaria's ferocity or the boldness of the talent behind it.
For Ella Stiller, the play is a declaration of artistic independence.
For Christopher Briney, it's a powerful step beyond the beach houses and brooding glances that made him a Gen Z idol. For audiences, it's a jolt, a performance that forces you to feel, laugh, cringe, and scroll through your own behavior in the age of online everything.
Dilaria plays at DR2 Theatre in Union Square through August 8. You won't forget it—even if you want to.
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