David Guest Archives - Page 20 of 20

Room Service

Bread and Roses Theatre

Reviewed – 3rd September 2019

★★★★★

“There’s a pleasing Black Mirror vibe to Richard Fitchett’s sharply written piece”

Artificial intelligence has been creepy since HAL 9000 threateningly announced, “I am afraid I can’t do that, Dave” in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. So anyone who continues to be spooked by Siri or Alexa telling you your toast is ready would be best to avoid Room Service, an intelligent and amusing new play about AI at the Bread and Roses Theatre.

The play explores the “day after tomorrow” sci-fi idea of a man arriving at a hotel and finding virtual room service in the shape of an advanced robot called Zahra. But this artificial intelligence isn’t the sort who’ll prevent you going outside to repair your spaceship, as in Kubrick’s epic: she is far more likely to order food and drink, give simple practical advice and check your faeces to ensure you haven’t got colon cancer.

There’s a pleasing Black Mirror vibe to Richard Fitchett’s sharply written piece, which first saw the light of day when an excerpt was performed at the theatre last year and which was also chosen to help launch its second venue near Kings Cross. Now developed into a complete work it’s a clever study of humanity’s relationship with technology – in this case a virtual helper who anticipates what you want before you know it yourself.

Andrew Mullan plays Max, the unsuspecting businessman who leaves his wife and young son at home, checks into a hotel room for work purposes and checks out an attractive colleague, leading to a one-night stand. He doesn’t reckon on the reaction of Zahra, who matter of factly leads him on a guilt trip.

Mullan is every inch the caring husband and father who sees nothing wrong in having a quick fling. He skilfully tunes in to our slight phobia of all-knowing, all-seeing new technology yet allows us to see the man and machine interconnection as he begins to anthropomorphise the hardware/software package with whom he shares the room, a simple set containing bed, table and chairs yet strongly resembling just about every hotel room businessfolk are likely to inhabit.

It’s a strong performance that curbs what could all too easily be manic, instead bringing out a genuine fascination of what makes free will and what counts as pre-determination.

Emma Stannard is extraordinary as Zahra, in a pitch perfect and occasionally unnerving portrayal of the carefully programmed machine, unconcerned about tracking individuals through any legally accessible data yet self aware enough to wonder if her actions are a result of random algorithms coming together or a burgeoning sense of empathy.

It’s an enthralling performance, every bit as believable and appealing as, for example, Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation, of whom Zahra must surely be a forebear. Stannard (who also co-produces the play with Fitchett) always convinces with a clipped vocal style and expressionless face, never cracking once as she comes to the realisation that she may be more than just wires and electronic pulses.

Micha Mirto directs with a sense of urgency: not a second is wasted in determining the characters (even those only referred to who we do not meet) and the obvious sci-fi angles are pulled back to give something more contemporary, personable and debatable.

Praise must go to the Bread and Roses Theatre for having such confidence in this stimulating and weighty drama which the writer has been able to develop into something full-bodied and robust, which digs deep into the ideas and characters to give an intriguing issue fresh perspective.

This crisp new work about AI is definitely A1.

Reviewed by David Guest

Room Service

Bread and Roses Theatre until 7th September

Previously reviewed at this venue:

The Enemies | ★★★ | October 2018

The Gap | ★★★★ | October 2018

Baby Blues | ★★★ | December 2018

A Modest Little Man | ★★★ | January 2019

Two Of A Kind | ★★★ | January 2019

Just To Sit At Her Table, Silver Hammer & Mirabilis | ★★★ | April 2019

Starved | ★★★★★ | April 2019

The Mind Reading Experiments | ★★★ | May 2019

The Incursion | ★★½ | July 2019

Click here to see our most recent reviews

Bruised Fruit

Drayton Arms Theatre

Reviewed – 26th August 2019

★★★★★

Babies and Bathwater

★★★★

Untouchables

★★★½

“a robust and effective collaboration”

There are times during the strong double bill Bruised Fruit when you want to cheer the women sharing their stories for being such no-nonsense and independent survivors.

In both short plays the women portrayed might be perceived as victims – but the drama allows them to reclaim their narratives. After all, the very term “bruised fruit” doesn’t just mean someone who is damaged: in present day parlance it also means someone overcoming adversity and growing through their experience.

The two half hour plays are brought together by Amy Garner Buchanan and Hayley Ricketson who say they have “designed, produced and everything elsed.” Amy wrote the first play while Hayley wrote the second, with Amy performing and Hayley directing both. It’s a robust and effective collaboration with a real sense of the pair exploring and developing ideas at every stage.

In Babies and Bathwater we meet Evelyn Parker, a housewife from Maidenhead, pleading in a court to divorce her husband. It is the story of a wide-eyed young girl being seduced by everything a man is and does and realising that her identity is completely entwined with his. For her divorce provides the chance to be heard and the opportunity to escape an unconventional relationship. We are kept in the dark for a lot of the time, following Evelyn as she seeks to discover her true self and being given hints of the truth. We wonder if this is a version of The Handmaid’s Tale, an example of religious or psychological trauma, or a take on the giving of consent and #MeToo until things turn quirky and rather more legendary.

It’s a neat twist which adds terrific humour to the monologue yet neither actor or director let it take over the story. Buchanan gives the character such heart and personality that you recognise her own claim that she is not a fruit, all soft and malleable, but a timebomb waiting to explode.

Untouchables is more heartbreaking, the story of chef and single mother Nadine, who is drawn to a club where she finds herself gazing regularly at a young female stripper. She may have been the victim of a faceless male predator (a thread runs through both plays of women somehow feeling they are to blame for their situations and finding their voice in a patriarchal society) but she spots in the dancer someone more damaged and empty. Nadine is, however, far harder to fathom and remains enigmatic.

Both Buchanan and Ricketson have a keen eye and ear for the power of storytelling and manage to cram a lot of strong emotion and resilience into the two half hours. In the hands of Buchanan, both women in the story come alive and we are certainly left hoping each can win their true place in the world.

This enthralling double bill finds the essential nature of two women who refuse to be defined by negative experiences and the resulting trauma. It brings together two separate cries from female hearts and makes their voices count in a sea of hostility and disinterest.

Bread and Roses Theatre

Reviewed – 3rd September 2019

★★★★★

“There’s a pleasing Black Mirror vibe to Richard Fitchett’s sharply written piece”

It’s a strong performance that curbs what could all too easily be manic, instead bringing out a genuine fascination of what makes free will and what counts as pre-determination.

Micha Mirto directs with a sense of urgency: not a second is wasted in determining the characters (even those only referred to who we do not meet) and the obvious sci-fi angles are pulled back to give something more contemporary, personable and debatable.

Praise must go to the Bread and Roses Theatre for having such confidence in this stimulating and weighty drama which the writer has been able to develop into something full-bodied and robust, which digs deep into the ideas and characters to give an intriguing issue fresh perspective.

This crisp new work about AI is definitely A1.

Reviewed by David Guest

Room Service

Bread and Roses Theatre until 7th September

Previously reviewed at this venue:

Drayton Arms Theatre

Reviewed – 26th August 2019

★★★★★

Babies and Bathwater

★★★★

Untouchables

★★★½

“a robust and effective collaboration”

There are times during the strong double bill Bruised Fruit when you want to cheer the women sharing their stories for being such no-nonsense and independent survivors.

It’s a neat twist which adds terrific humour to the monologue yet neither actor or director let it take over the story. Buchanan gives the character such heart and personality that you recognise her own claim that she is not a fruit, all soft and malleable, but a timebomb waiting to explode.

This enthralling double bill finds the essential nature of two women who refuse to be defined by negative experiences and the resulting trauma. It brings together two separate cries from female hearts and makes their voices count in a sea of hostility and disinterest.

Reviewed by David Guest

Bruised Fruit

Drayton Arms Theatre

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue: