The People Show Company breaks it own record by staging its 145th production through a new play exploring the meaning of human existence. Guillermo Nazara shares his views on the show, to let us know if this mystic piece has been met with good omens.
If the human brain were so simple that we could understand it, we would be so simple that we couldn’t. Our time may have finally come now, though, as the rise of AI continues to gather momentum in a fast-changing world that threatens to leave its own creators behind. We usted to call it God. We ended up killing him to put ourselves on top. But now, our fate might soon be decided by a tangle of cables and electrical pulses. Only, that is, if they can ever get to to understand what we still haven’t in 300 hundred thousand years of our own existence: the meaning of the human experience.
This month, the Golden Goose Theatre has opened its doors to The Diviners, a new play by the People Show Company exploring the oddities of our day-to-day normality. A laughable view on the absurdities that give sense to our regular behaviour, the piece presents us with four androids (three of them, made in our own image) struggling not only to mimick, but most importantly, comprehend what makes a person act (or react) the way they do. In other words, what’s the reason behind a feeling.
A new tale dealing with the unexplaibable secrets confined to our essence, the show parts from quite an interesting premise that, if delivered with the right approach, has the ability to both make think and entertain. However, there’s still work to be done in this case. Despite featuring some enjoyable and slightly amusing moments, the script sadly fails to come up with a solid story arc – as its structure does not fully materialise, presenting us instead with a disorganised mosaic of sketches that, though connected, don’t really manage to create a cohesive narrative.
Written and directed by the play’s troupe themselves, their philosophical intentions are no doubt laudable, but unfortunately such a message gets adulterated by cramming up too many elements that, rather than paving the way, only put rocks in it. Some production values are still worthy of some praise, though – those coming, in particular, from their quite enjoyable (and overall, committed) performances – with a special mention to Gareth Brierly for the endurance and infectiousness of his portrayal. At the same time, Nigel Edwards’s texture-rich and detailed lighting makes of it a more intricate experience, providing us with quite a few visually impressive moments for fringe standards.
Parting from a conventional yet potentially inventive idea, The Diviners still needs to do some ground work before rising up to heaven. Its cornerstone has been laid, but its foundation (and all that comes after it) still requires more carving and honing until the whole thing takes shape. For us to become engaged with artificial intelligence theming, we must have something that feels relatable, bonding and, all in all, natural.
All pictures credit to Zavoc Nada.
The Diviners plays at London’s Golden Goose Theatre until 28 October. Tickets are available on the following link.