By Shari Barrett
With the current threat of AI generated digital characters taking over roles portrayed by human actors, congratulations go to playwright Peter Ritt on his comical exploration of the hot topic in his new play High Maintenance at The Road Theatre in North Hollywood through May 19, directed with insightful clarity by Stan Zimmerman. This world premiere play raises questions about the relationship between art and AI, and how the status quo can turn both against each other while generating laughs galore! After all, when a robot is built to act as “the product of theatre and big tech,” a big ego is inevitable.
The luminous Ivy Khan stars as Laura Miller, a recently disgraced actor who is making her comeback playing Nora in a production of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. Thrilled to be working again after surviving a potential career-ending scandal, even her supportive friend and agent Gus (Merrick McCartha) could never have prepared Laura to meet her new co-star, a handsome male robot without any acting experience; one who she must train to act as “human” as possible onstage. But what happens if the robot learns to mimic human behavior and emotions so authentically that audiences will never realize a robot is on the stage? Could it signal the end of the acting profession?
Adding authenticity through his extraordinary vocal and physical movement skills, Christian Prentice portrays Roger the Robot to a tee, with each new lesson learned a revelation to his innocent mechanical mind and body. While his many robotic movements set him apart from Laura’s softer human portrayal, as she teaches Roger to be “more human” per the request from his creator Alan Steele (Kris Frost), who sees his fortune increasing if the “experiment” really works, Ivy begins to fall for Roger, believing him to be the perfect partner she has been seeking in life. And I guarantee when they decide to practice “the kiss” they share in the play, you will first be laughing and then sighing as their real feelings for each other begin to blossom.
Along the way to opening night, Samm the stage manager (Alexis Graham) and the A Doll’s House director Vera Osborne (Amy Tolsky, perfect in her over-the-top, comical yet truthful portrayal) do their best to keep rehearsals moving along, amazed at Laura’s ability to guide Roger into a very human performance. However, when Alan sees how successful Roger has become, he secretly replaces him with Thesbot Prime (Tommy Dickie) for the opening night performance – much to the dismay of everyone else, especially Laura who knows she cannot teach being human to another robot in time to go on that night. And with her feelings for Roger building, there is no way she is ready to let him be “retired” from the play. But unknown to her, Roger has his own plan to take his place in the spotlight back…
What follows is an investigation into the human ego and need to hold on to what you think is exclusively yours, brought into focus when the two robots meet to exchange their “files.” But by then, Roger has learned how to manipulate Prime so that he can continue in the role and be with Laura to learn more about love. But can he get away with his scheme?
Along with the talented actors, tech credits lift High Maintenance into the realm of an award-winning world premiere production, thanks to Ben Rock’s electronic projection design, moveable set design by Brian Graves, lighting design by Derrick McDaniel, and sound design by David B. Marling, all combining to create a futuristic world where human influence seems to be waning in the face of overwhelming technology. Costume design by Jenna Bergstraesser reflects the style of each character to a tee, especially Roger who seem to be dressed as the perfect 1950s young man in stylish high-waisted slacks.
The same fine technicians also added their skills to the World Premiere of SINGULARIES or the Computers of Venus, written and directed by Laura Stribling, which runs through Sunday, June 2 at The Road Theatre in North Hollywood. Set in three different time periods from 1789 through the present, it examines the lives of women astronomers as they grapple with light, love, and the infinite while attempting to make a name for themselves in the male-dominated world of scientific research.
Centering around the search for a better understanding of the stars, galaxies, comets, and nebulas, as well and their past, future, and personal limits, six women take us from the time when women could not speak up or take credit for their own work or sexuality, to the era when Women’s Rights came into being, up to present day where women are able to enjoy exploring their sexuality and do research on equal footing, if not the same pay scale, as men working in the same field.
Featured in the cast as they appear chronologically are Avery Clyde as early female astronomer Caroline Hershel who must allow her male boss to take credit for her heavenly discoveries and Noelle Mercer as Elizabeth Leland, a young married woman longing for more than just being a wife by assisting in Caroline’s discoveries; Susan Diol as noted astronomer Maria Mitchell and Blaire Chandler as Julia Ward Howe, the well-known suffragette and writer of the pro-Union, anti-slavery anthem “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”; and Lizzy Kimball as modern “astrophysicist cosmologist” Lena Cushman and Krishna Smitha as her assistant and lover Sophia Winlock.
While each the actors were dedicated to honest portrayals of their characters, I really enjoyed Blaire Chandler’s outspoken portrayal of the beautifully bustle-clad (thanks to costumer Jenna Bergstraesser) Julia Ward Howe. So thorough was her dedication to the important figure in women’s rights, I immediately went home to read up about this true American icon, born in 1819 and gone in 1910, nine years before women won the right the vote.
And it’s clear, as Julia shares, they are all working on the “emancipation of the female mind,” recognizing themselves as the foundation upon which women will flourish in their future chosen fields. No doubt it will get you thinking about those who have contributed to allowing you to live your life to the fullest now and how we can set an even better path for those who will follow in our footsteps.
But this world premiere does need some serious editing, perhaps down to a 90-minute one act rather than a two-hour, two-act play. For while the first act seemed too long due to the unnecessary repetition of items shared at a too slow pace, the second act moved from scene to scene and time to time with alacrity as each couple journeyed ahead a few years during their time frame, acknowledging how far women have come and how much farther we hope to go.
The world premieres of High Maintenance and SINGULARITIES or the Computers of Venus, continue in rep at The Road Theatre located in The NoHo Senior Arts Colony, 10747 Magnolia Blvd. in North Hollywood. General admission tickets are $39 with Students and Seniors $20. Sunday performances are Pay-What-You-Can, with special group rates available for parties of 8 or more. For tickets, please call 818-761-8838 or visit www.RoadTheatre.org to purchase tickets online via a complete performance schedule by date and time.
