What I liked
The immersive elements of the pre-show and the production value (including props, costumes, and set pieces) were absolutely stellar. The tokens are super cool, and the use of light and darkness is stunning and beautiful. As a major space geek, I also loved the references to the TRAPPIST-1 system, probably my favorite collection of exoplanets. The themes the show addresses are very relevant to the modern age (or will be soon). As a fellow theatermaker, I also want to applaud the bold vision and the effort it took to bring this cyberpunk dream to life. The world that’s been created here is clearly vast and vibrant. I would love to peruse the notes documents pertaining to this world.
Stephen Butchko’s varied and layered performance is a major highlight as well. Both he and Dasha Kittredge are very convincing performing opposite a scene partner who is only digitally present, and Deirdre V. Lyons does some incredible work with just her voice.
I’ve worked in video game dev and want to applaud the programmers for the work they did on the app. Once you’re on the wifi, going through the pre-show exposition and initial setup is smooth, and troubleshooting is fairly simple.
Reading through the description after the fact, a lot of elements that confused me before make a lot more sense now. I definitely would come back to experience a version of ROOT where the immersive elements that were intended were included, and I am very impressed with how the team pivoted from immersive to experimental mixed reality. That’s hard to do with so many technical moving parts. I appreciate the inclusion of an AI disclosure and the clear steps to be as ethical as possible when including AI in the art.
What I didn't like
I want to preface this by saying that this was my 5th show of the day, and the runtime took it past midnight. I was not particularly bright-eyed nor bushy-tailed, and I think this show would benefit from an audience that is mentally very alert, which I was not, so please take the following with that grain of salt.
The AR aspect is thematically-relevant, but ultimately takes away from the production. I felt like I was missing crucial information because I was fiddling with my phone trying to get Pluto to fit into the scene. Not particularly ADHD-friendly. (Though the tokens they handed out were very good for fidgeting!) The AR model was extremely glitchy (leading to some unintentional comedy) and the rigging or mocap was off. It faced away from the audience (on my device at least) most of the time and the limbs were all over the place. A live actor and innovative lighting might have preserved some of the connection to the characters I was missing.
The writing would benefit from a few more revisions. I feel like there is an emotional, human story tucked in beneath the sci-fi exposition and the lofty philosophy, but it couldn’t reach me. I love science fiction, but there needs to be a balance between worldbuilding, philosophical themes, and story/character. That balance is heavily weighted against the narrative elements in this iteration, leaving me confused, lost, and disengaged for most of it. At the end we’re asked what we would do in Eris’ shoes, and I wished I had an answer. If asked to give up or keep my chit, I probably would have given it up just because digital life seems hellish, but the show wasn’t able to connect with me enough for me to feel like I could make an informed decision, despite being inundated with information.
The AI disclosure is an interesting read. (I did not read it before seeing the show nor formulating the above opinions.) Overall, it feels like this production was as ethical as AI involvement can be in the arts. Using models trained on original data/material is a major improvement over most cases. Which is why I was a little baffled to see an admission of using AI-generated images in the pitch deck followed by a declaration of belief in paying artists for their work. Using AI-generated images means not paying the artists whose work the AI model was trained on. Though I suppose the most ethical use of those kinds of images is convincing the hoarding class to part from their money. While it’s clear that steps were taken to ensure mindful and ethical use of AI elsewhere, that disclosure and the production further cement my belief that generative AI has no place in the arts.
My overall impression
An ambitious sci-fi spectacle!
