The third year students at Dalhousie University’s Fountain School of Performing Arts have devised a new play, Artificial Oddity, which looks at the rise of AI Technology, and roots our fears about this new technology within a historical context dating back to Ancient Greek Mythology. The play, directed by Matthew Thomas Walker, plays at the David Mack Murray Theatre in the Dalhousie Arts Centre until February 10th, 2024.
In devised theatre a collective of performers, often with the help of a director, begin their rehearsal process with a central question or concept rather than a written script. The script emerges throughout the rehearsal process, from either improvisation, writing exercises, research, or a mixture of the three, often alongside the physical blocking of the show. For Artificial Oddity the conceit was to explore the “fear of technology across time.” According to the Programme in the Fall students chose to debate the pros and cons of a myriad of technologies central to our society “from the perspective of either a real or imagined historical figure.” The class even attempted to use AI to help them write the play, but, happily, they found that it made for a soulless playwright, and instead opted to write the show themselves.
The conceit of this play is very interesting, reminding us that if we feel trepidation and overt aversion to AI technology, if it brings us anxiety, and inspires folks to write doomsday think pieces promising that this surely will bring about the end of society as we know it, and usher in a period of suffering and regret, we are part of a long history of folks who were sure the automobile and the Internet would do the very same. Of course, given the world that we live in, with climate change and our home planet becoming literally uninhabitable, perhaps within our own lifetimes, the concern seems more rational this time. In this way, we can also look at Artificial Oddity as an attempt to pinpoint at what point humanity started down the wrong track toward our own destruction. Was it just when we chose gasoline cars over electric, or does it go back as far as the invention of the wheel? Perhaps we, and the whole planet, would be better off if we had never even evolved into humans at all.
The scenes are knit together with intermittent performances of David Bowie songs, some contemplative and poetic, others, like “Space Oddity,” overtly similar to the play in theme. Many of the students have lovely voices, and these interludes are beautifully theatrical. While the questions that the students are grappling with in this show are quite serious, many of the scenes that they have created are heightened to the limits of absurdity and well into the realms of satire. Emily McInnis, for example, creates a Bill Clinton character straight out of a SNL-esque sketch.
I would be interested in seeing the students taking the next step beyond debating the issues inspired by the technologies of their choice, and focusing more on exploring the nuances of the perspectives of their characters within their cultural and historical context. Bicycles, obviously, didn’t become extinct once the automobile was invented, but how do they make Margaret Pope’s specific life more challenging in New York at the turn of the 20th Century? Is she ever tempted to buy one in future decades? Does she eventually get married to someone who has one, and becomes grateful for the convenience that they offer her? Or, does she remain faithful to her bike for the rest of her life, and what does this cost her? Monica Lewinsky’s life may have been turned upside down by the Internet in 1998, but now she very savvily uses social media in her activism and to drag Donald Trump and his minions. What does this say about her? What power comes from turning the means of your oppression into your strength? Karl Marx’s loftiest ideals have been corrupted to as horrifying effect as the kind of capitalism that made Henry Ford wealthy. Is there a lofty version of Capitalism? Are there people who genuinely purport it in good faith? I was curious why Ada Lovelace, of all people, was chosen to be the play’s overt villain, given that she’s most well remembered for “raising the profile of women in science, technology, engineering, and math.” I think maybe in focusing more on the humans that hold these fears and aspirations, rather than just debate around the fears and aspirations themselves, the audience would be encouraged to empathize with the specific people who hold these perspectives on both sides, and thus the play would really accentuate how we are now caught in this tangled knot of nuance where every decision politicians make seem to screw over somebody somewhere, and where many of us expect AI to be no different.
Devised shows like this one often go through rounds and rounds of workshops (over months and years), delving in further with each one, and especially in the case of this show, which tracks a streamlined version of the evolution of technology beginning with humans’ first use of fire, the amount of research required at first is voluminous. With that in mind, Artificial Oddity has the strong beginnings of a clear central idea, interesting questions, and a dramatic patchwork of myth and realism, music, and satire. For me, the fact that the cast abandoned their attempts to bring AI in as a creative partner due to its subpar creativity is heartening. But, of course, the question is, how long before AI learns to be creative, and can it ever learn to be soulful, to write with heart, or to truly mimic exactly what it means to create art as a human? Is it too late to ask if we really would want it to?
Artificial Oddity plays at the David Mack Murray Theatre inside the Dal Arts Centre (6101 University Avenue, Halifax) until February 10th, 2024. Shows run Friday at 7:30, and Saturday at 2:00pm and 7:30pm. Tickets are very limited. They are $15.00 or $10.00 for Students.
For tickets please visit this website, call the Box Office at 902.494-3820, or visit in person at 6101 University Avenue.
Content Warning: This production may include emotionally challenging content which audience members might find disturbing or triggering. It may also contain loud noises, bright flashing strobe lights, haze and fog.
This show is approximately 1hr 50 minutes, including an intermission.
The Dalhousie Arts Centre is fully wheelchair accessible. For accessible seating, please contact the Box Office at (902) 494 3820. For more Accessibility information visit this website.
