LOS ANGELES — When you think about it, a lot of traditional plays revolve around people sitting in a room having a conversation.
“And I don’t know about you,” said playwright Matt Schatz. “It’s rare that I actually have that many conversations with people in rooms.”
Instead, he said, the bulk of our interactions have become digital — texting, email, zoom.
“So I’m very interested in figuring out a way to dramatize the way that humans communicate now,” he said.
Even if the person they are communicating with isn’t actually a person.
Enter “Bobby Robotowitz,” Schatz’s new play — a two-hander about a human named Dina and her AI chatbot. The idea came to him after he suffered what he calls an artistic disappointment. He needed a little encouragement, but that’s not always easy to find or ask for.
“We’re all so stretched thin,” he explained. “We’re all so exhausted all the time. And we don’t want to bother anyone with anything.”
But a chatbot has no place to be, nothing to distract it and won’t judge you. And that, Schatz says, can be very seductive.
“And part of what the play is about is that seductive pull of technology,” he said, “and sort of how do we retain our humanity when we’re having extended conversations with something that’s not human?”
Actors Erin Alexis and Drew Rausch, who play the chatbot, both said they’ve only dabbled with AI and hesitantly at that. Rausch even has a strategy to keep it at arm’s length.
“I won’t use full sentences,” he insisted. “I’ll say something like, ‘synonyms for fast’, and I won’t even give it a full context because I don’t want to start having those conversations where it pulls me in.”
But they do want to pull in audience members, which is pretty easy for them to do given the setting. Rausch is a founding member of InHouse Theatre, which produces site specific work in nontraditional spaces. Like an apartment. “Bobby Robotowitz” is being co-produced by InHouse and IAMA Theatre Company and is part of the National New Play Network, which will also feature productions in Pittsburgh, Washington, DC, and Orange, NJ.
In Los Angeles, it was produced in two different locations. One cast on the West Side held performances last month, while the East Side cast is spending November in a different, undisclosed location. It’s in the Silver Lakes area, and audience members get the address when they buy their ticket.
(Jeff Lorch)
Rather than observe the relationship as it plays out on a stage, these smaller, immersive spaces foster a different kind of intimacy.
“It’s like you’re invited in just a little bit closer,” Alexis explained, “and I think that is what people will leave feeling. I think it’s going to be a big reflection on like, ‘Am I doing this?’”
She added, “I think it’s a really good conversation sparker and really a reflection of where we are in society as well.”
“I think this play explores the nature of this relationship of human intelligence and artificial intelligence and how those work together,” Rausch said. “It’s really exciting to sit inside of that relationship and watch it develop with such immediate access to what the actors are doing.”
Schatz also loves how no tech this play about tech is.
“Bobby Robotowitz,” which runs through Nov. 23, features no stage lights and no special effects. Just two characters, talking. While the optimist in him sees some of the potential benefits of artificial intelligence, he admits he’s worried about the future of AI on his craft and on society writ large.
“All I do is worry,” he said, “and what I do when I worry is I write a play. So hopefully, it’ll make me write more plays.”
Source: spectrumlocalnews.com
