Take Your Seats, Take Out Your Phones: “After The Tone” Brings SMS To The Stage

Cara Rose DeFabio's performance "After The Tone" brings SMS technology to the stage, allowing audience members to text their personal stories about death, love, and family to her in real-time. She uses Twilio SMS to facilitate this interaction, which she believes is key to the success of art. Cara has experimented with various technologies to reach her audience, including Skype, Google Voice, Twitter, and more, before settling on Twilio for its ease of use. Her collaboration with Andrew Hyder, a Code For America Fellow, was instrumental in building the app that powers the show's interaction. The technology used is seen as a means to an end, enabling communication and intimacy between the audience members and Cara.