A young boy was sitting on the steps of The Schwarzman Centre last night scrolling through TikTok, seemingly unaware that a few metres away, the apocalyptic consequences of A1 were destroying the world.
Welcome to Ella Road’s sweeping new AI saga ROBOTA, staged by Headlong, which examines the consequences of the current AI storm, by asking all the right questions about the future of humanity, and the greed and competitiveness wrapped up in our race to become obsolete, or at the very least expendable.
Cue three male tech magnates, holed up on a tropical island dispensing their AI robots around the world to replace human workers – their million dollar profits and misplaced benevolence sadly all too familiar.
Isolated, swaggering, macho, abusive and frankly blinkered by their own petard, they even use the robots for their own sexual gratification, AKA Stepford Wives, with chilling nonchalance.
Which immediately begs the audience to consider whether robots can actually replace us. Who would be left in charge? What happens to humanity if they do? Why we are prioritising profits? How harmful is the tech rhetoric is to our daily reality? And whether human flaws and characteristics are going to be our downfall?
Heavy stuff then, but Ella Road infuses ROBOTA‘s daunting themes with humour and vitality, namely by jettisoning in activist Helen (Ronkẹ Adékọluẹ́jọ́) who also happens to be the PM’s daughter.
‘Heavy stuff then, but Ella Roads infuses ROBOTA‘s daunting themes with humour and vitality’
Convinced that if programmed properly robots can be taught to have feelings; to care, to feel, to think for themselves, she sets about saving them.
In a bid to keep her quiet the tech guys build a replica of Helen (played brilliantly by Umi Myers) to work with and prove her theories, and in so doing set the wheels in motion for a catalogue of disasters that brings about the end of the world with almost comic book intent.
As Robota is based on the 1920s sci-fi classic Rossum’s Universal Robots, written by Karel Čapek 100 years ago, Ella Road’s re-imagining for the Schwarzman’s first full scale production is presumably restricted by the story’s original parameters.
‘a catalogue of disasters brings about the end of the world with almost comic book intent’
So, if in the first half ROBOTA is more concerned with the morals, ethics and debates around AI, which begins to wear thin, the second half is all action as hell breaks loose.
Helen’s meddling, provoked by jealousy (notably a negative emotion absent from robots), mobilises the humanoids to fight back on a global scale, the island proving the last stand.
And while the human and deeply flawed protagonists wait for their inevitable comeuppance, their moral compasses finally tuning in, the delusional group are forced to analyse the world-wide, apocalyptic consequences of their actions and beliefs. A morality tale indeed.
Tip of the hat then to the Schwarzman Centre for commissioning something so prescient
As the audience headed outside afterwards, heads teeming, the world around us seemingly unaware of the impending doom, one thing’s for sure – ROBOTA certainly leaves you with ample food for thought.
Tip of the hat then to The Schwarzman Centre for commissioning something so prescient, novel, dramatic and thought-provoking for their first full scale production, while igniting the debate. The “duck’s nuts” indeed!
Headlong’s ROBOTA runs at Schwarzman until July 18. BOOK HERE
