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Black comedy about an AI running our lives which falls flatSummary
Rating
Ok
Nick (Oliver Alvin-Wilson), a highly successful tech multi-millionaire, invites a group of three couples, his old friends, for an evening of fine dining and champagne intertwined with a surprise business proposition.
Nick’s proposal seems too good to be true: invest in his new project and watch a small investment grow exponentially in a matter of weeks. Naturally, some of his friends are sceptical, and they are right to be. Nick’s plan is indeed a scam, but not in the way they think. He does want to make his friends rich, but he also wants to use them as a control group for his AI experiment. AI would control the future of these three couples, guiding them to the ‘right’ decisions, even if it meant setting up coincidences to nudge them in the right direction.
Most of the characters’ motivations are unclear and murky. They all seem to be driven by their own self-interest, with little regard for their partners, families, or friends. Nick has “more money than he can spend in a lifetime,” but he never gives any of it to his (semi) struggling friends. Instead, he invites them to dinner and asks them to invest in his new project with money he knows, or should know, that they don’t have. Even though the friends have known each other for years, there is not much sign that they have any real connection left.
AI might not be futuristic anymore. We see references to it all the time in the news, from ChatGPT to Bard, and expressed in the concerns around jobs being affected. So why does the AI shown use graphics that look like they came out of a 1970s B-movie? They look cheap, tacky, and are used repeatedly as a centrepiece. This is in stark contrast to the later excellent rain effects, also by video designer Daniel Denton. The lighting design by Robbie Butler is clearly intended to be a key part of the show, and while it is sometimes highly effective, it also leaves the cast in the dark more than once, making it difficult to see.
The acting talent on display is uneven. Some, notably Nick Read and Rosanna Hyland, give decent performances. However, more than once, director Hersh Ellis should have stepped in to work with the cast. There are times when the acting comes across as over-the-top, then other moments when the lines and characters fall utterly flat.
Disruption introduces inexplicable transitions late in the show, including movement and a sequence with umbrellas in the rain, as well as an unexpected intermission. This is odd, as all the pre-show information, including the printed flyers, indicated a runtime of 90 minutes without a break. I’m left with the feeling that after rehearsals, the show was running a little long and pieces like this helped bulk it out further in order to bring it to just over two hours with interval.
The black comedy has some moments of humour, but they are few and far between. The play as a whole is often tedious and predictable, and the characters shallow and unconvincing. At one point, someone reads a magazine with a picture of Elon Musk on the cover and a headline about bankruptcy. The magazine cover is printed on both sides, so that the audience cannot miss the reference. It unfortunately sums up the evening; nothing feels real or meaningful, everything is just for shallow show.
Disruption is ostensibly about the dangers of AI, but it ultimately suggests that the problem is not with AI itself, but with humans. After all, Nick’s team created and directed the AI’s actions, and the group of friends are (mostly) selfish and looking only to themselves. Maybe we’d all be better off with AI? Maybe an AI would have enjoyed this more? Maybe an AI would have written and directed a better play? Then again, I’m just a human and maybe an AI could have written a better review?
Written by: Andrew Stein
Directed by: Hersh Ellis
Lighting design by: Robbie Butler
Sound design and composed by: Asaf Zohar
Movement direction by: Leanne Pinder
Produced by: Todd and Nancy Allan, Rick Feldman, Joanne F. Guerrerio, Max Needle, Bert Rosenblatt, Robert Frier/Andy Tobias in association with Park Theatre
Disruption plays at Park Theatre until 5 August. Further information and bookings can be found here.
