REVIEW: REANICORP at Lion and Unicorn Theatre, Kentish Town 7 - 11 May

‘posits fascinating arguments’ ★★★

AI  embodied in human-like robots is a very fashionable subject right now and this play succeeds in adding to the arguments that have been shared. In this science fiction story, Reanicorp is a company which offers to ‘bring back the dead’ (humanoids who look like the deceased, utilising online information to give a likeness), to comfort the bereaved. The question posited by the play, is whether this is a good way to help those suffering after the loss of a loved one. This production answers the question in a very emotional way, never being preachy or pedagogic. 

The story is told from the perspective of the Head of the Reanicorp programme, Michael Wallace (Jake Ord). The company faces ruin after a series of blunders.  Michael is being held responsible and must put the case for the continuation of the programme. He has his own personal reasons for being passionate about proving its success.   In order to do this, he shows two case studies. A wife is reunited with her deceased husband and two estranged sisters meet again after seven years apart.  The play demonstrates the pros and cons and in the final denouement it gives a persuasive argument against the initiative.   It is a brave decision to be so decisive as plays often raise questions but rarely answer them. 

The actors who have the job of playing the humanoids are very successful in doing so with the smallest of mannerisms (they cannot multi-task so looking at their data banks produces a small tick).   The company wants to provide a service but as the robots are leased, they must please the client to prolong their engagement and make money.  However, as the two AI aren’t the real thing, the small reminders of their provenance are important. 

Thanks to the actors the relationships shown in each of the case studies is genuinely moving. The final scenes also benefit from some fine acting from Charlie Lloyd as Jeremey, a tricky role to play but his face tells the story.

The play does suffer a little from having a home-made feel to the lighting design with the use of flashlights to illuminate their own faces and in a couple of scenes they are standing behind a white sheet which gives an appearance of shadow puppetry. If the piece had been full-on physical theatre or full-on lighting by the company, it might have worked but as these effects were sporadic, it had a studenty vibe and was strangely at odds with a play about high tech.

The play is beautifully and intelligently written, it posits fascinating arguments and is well worth seeing.   The hope is that it might get another run with more sophisticated sound and lighting.

REANICORP at Lion and Unicorn Theatre, Kentish Town 7 - 11 May

https://www.thelionandunicorntheatre.com/whats-on

Presented by Shoreside Productions

CAST:

Michael Wallace - Jake Ord

Jeremey - Charlie Lloyd

Emily Howard - Emma Louise-Price

Jack Howard - Robert Habershon

Beth Fraser - Sarah Montgomery

Alex Fraser - Megan Peace

WRITTEN BY: Daniel Formosa, Jake Ord and Megan Peace

DIRECTED BY: Daniel Formosa

OTHER CREATIVES: Megan Peace (Producer), Valentina Vidal (Movement Director), Oliver Yam (Voice Over Technician)