October 13, 2024 World Premier
By Chris Cassone cc@chriscassone.com
What if?
Electric, I is one big What If. It works as an enjoyable mind puzzle as we unpack the dense introduction but more so as a predictor. Or (cue suspenseful pipe organ) as a warning of a calamitous future that we may be hurtling towards.
What if Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla could get a peek at how their inventions evolved these one hundred years later. Would they change anything? Would they stop it? Shayne Eastin's witty, complex yet thought-provoking two-act drama does just that. Without saying the quiet part out loud, this could be about AI - another cutting-edge scientific development that could threaten humanity.
Electricity, motion pictures and all things wireless are dealt with as powerful Pandora's boxes. The allure and the possibilities were just too powerful for the principal characters to stand by and not promote it.
Electric, I is a wild bundle of ideas that an eleven-person cast did their absolute best in pulling off. Real teamwork was what made it work, on all the levels of theater: a well-oiled machine of actors who changed scenes effortlessly, ballet-like in their motions.
To sell the ideas of the playwright, the actors had to work seamlessly with the A/V. One could argue that the audio-visual effects were the twelfth cast member, it was that well done. From the scratchy "film prints" that revealed a silent film star, to the hand-held video that fed back just enough to create a futuristic look, to the drop-dead excellent puppetry that had us feel the emotions of the dogs and the pigeons, the electronics on the outside drove home the metaphor of the new electrical discoveries the 1920's and 30's were witnessing.
While we never saw Edison, his nemesis, Tesla, was a joy to behold. Brad Light's stunning rendition of the creative Croat was worth the whole night. He had us laughing and crying, but mostly he had us thinking with his mad visions. There was practically nothing that alternating current couldn't fix to the new world of the Twenties. Tesla even takes one for the team and electrocutes himself to raise his creativity level.
But with new discoveries comes power struggles and violence. Henry (Oraldo Austin) and Joseph (Christopher Neiman) got their start busting up cameras of the competition. And two finer mugs you won't find. Their characters were larger than life, so compelling that it was hard to listen to anyone else.
Hannah Arungawa, the Mary Pickford-like Victoria, was full of love and compassion even as she is manipulated by Cecil B (Joel Scher) who was larger than life. How he interacted with his German Shephard puppet was a sight to behold. All thanks for those wonderful puppets goes to Kelsey Kato and the fine group of puppeteers who added a touch of magic realism to the production. Stage manager Peter Newell must be applauded for having all these parts work together.
Which leaves us the director, Amanda Sonnenschein, who must take all the bows for an absolutely edge-of-your-seat theatrical artwork that is one-of-a-kind. I might even return to see it again. The play had me thinking all weekend. What if we just let AI run free before it can think for itself? Will it be too late? The public electrocution of Topsie the elephant was a sober reminder of a new version of creativity being used for everything. ("There's nothing it can't do.")
Finally, the play ended with a symmetrical recalling to its opening. Only this time we were treated to a very emotional shadow puppet scene - a final statement made within the confluence of light, electricity and art.
What if...we each let our inner Luddite overcome the artist or even art appreciation that we all contain?
What if?
Electric, I runs through Nov 10, Thurs, Fri, Sat, and Mon at 8pm, Sun at 6pm. Theatre of NOTE, 1517 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. Tickets and info https://theatreofnote.ludus.com/index.php?sections=events