“a humorous and engaging script that is delivered well on stage”
In a world where artificial intelligence is playing a key role in our lives, it seems hugely appropriate that theatre should explore it and the impact it has on human life. In Welcome Home, we are introduced to two young women, Jess and Enoch, who live together with an aBode, “the market leader in home assistance”. The aBode does everything from controlling the apartment’s security and surveillance to ordering groceries. The two housemates barely need to lift a finger as almost all daily tasks are taken care of with ease. However, it soon transpires the aBode may have sinister intentions and does not merely exist to provide assistance to the two housemates.
Amali Jazeel (Enoch) and Jemma Burgess (Jess) are convincing as housemates who appear to get on, but also clash occasionally. The two actors keep up a good level of energy throughout and hold the audience’s attention well. Sarah Cahill (both writer and director) has produced a humorous and engaging script that is delivered well on stage. Even during the darker sections of the play, humour is still found within lines from the aBode and its interactions with Enoch and Jess. The aBode glows blue and changes to red in more sinister moments, which makes for a nice design element.
Running at just over half an hour, the play is a little on the short side and could benefit from an extended running time, allowing for more of a build-up of the story and a chance for us to learn about the characters and scenarios in more depth.
A dark, yet entertaining exploration of the power and impact of artificial intelligence, Welcome Home is highly relevant for modern audiences. It should, no doubt, prompt discussion surrounding the rate at which technology is progressing and audiences’ own use of it, as well as the potential artificial intelligence has to grow.
“The small space at the Old Red Lion is perfect for the piece, bolstering the sense of conspiracy, not to mention comedy”
A confession: I have never read a book by John Le Carré. Sure, I watched The Night Manager on telly, and I’m vaguely familiar with the name George Smiley, but beyond that I’m as in the dark about it all as his characters (presumably) would want me. With that having been cleared up, here is my review of an immersive, improvisational, one-man comedy based on the works of John Le Carré.
Luckily, as star and co-creator Neil Connolly assures us, my ignorance will not be an obstacle. Tonight, we are all co-conspirators in his game of spies. An agent has been killed in action somewhere in the Eastern Bloc under circumstances most suspicious and one by one we must all be signed up to “Operation: Stop the Greasy Reds”.
First, a handful of toy instruments are passed amongst the crowd to form the “house band”, or communications unit (who also end up providing the show’s soundtrack). Another hapless punter is designated “John Doe”, the victim, apparently killed by “unfortunate footwear”. Scalphunters, shoemakers, lamplighters, and janitors (official Le Carré terms, we are told) all play their part, but none quite so deftly as Connolly, who always keeps the piece on track, despite the anarchic twists and turns thrown up by the audience.
The small space at the Old Red Lion is perfect for the piece, bolstering the sense of conspiracy, not to mention comedy. Unlike some immersive theatre, the show doesn’t rely on expansive stage dressing or gimmicky set pieces. Instead we are carried through by Connolly’s talent as a storyteller.
I arrive knowing very little about Le Carré, and I leave knowing only a little more. However, in that time I laugh an awful lot and thanks to Connolly’s enthusiasm for the source material, I feel a bit closer to the dark and mysterious world he lovingly parodies. Perhaps it is finally time I came in from the cold and picked up a copy.
