19th Play - anthroplogy by Lauren Gunderson
Alexandra Hellquist (Merril) and Kaylee Kaneshiro (on screen - Angie) in Rogue Machine Theatre’s North American premiere in 2025. Photo: Jeff Lorch
I always enjoy a Lauren Gunderson piece, and this one seems SO timely, as we keep learning more and more about AI every day. This show is more of a mystery than most of her work, but the all-female cast (woo-hoo!) is brimming with messy relationships, which are GREAT!
Summary: “Merril has been spending more time with her sister, Angie, but she isn't ready for anyone to know about it. At least, not until Merril has decided that Angie is ready to see other people – but it is going to take a little more finessing, and definitely less fighting. After Angie, without permission, arranges for Merril’s ex Raquel to come over, the truth comes out: Angie is an A.I. creation that Merril has developed to cope with her sister's death. But as the virtual Angie begins to demand more presence in Merril and her mother’s lives, reality and consciousness blur, and new moral questions arise about the right, safe, and acceptable ways to grieve.” Concord Theatricals
The fact that Angie is created by AI is in all of the summaries and the reviews - it’s not really a surprise, unless you are reading the play with no background at all, like me. I started to suspect something as Merril backpedaled a bit in her and Angie’s first conversation, but then when Merril says, “My fucking sister’s dead,” then I KNEW. So if you don’t know, there’s a little bit of suspense and surprise at the top; which of course, if you’re reading this you won’t have, sigh.
The conversation between Angie and Merril seems very real, and if AI can create something like that, it’s scary (and exciting?) indeed. Merril does seem to be concerned about this, but also needs it desperately in the wake of losing her sister. Then, when the AI Angie suggests searching for the real life Angie (because they have never found her body), Merril is torn, but how can she say no? It is interesting to see them work together so that AI Angie can dig deeper and hopefully solve the mystery.
At first, all I could think was, how do you do this onstage? Do you have the real actor playing Angie being videoed backstage and projected onstage, or is the actor who plays Merril working with a pre-recorded video? Smarter tech people than me would have to figure that out. Although, working with pre-recorded sound or video is hard for actors, as it doesn’t allow any changes in the moment, and those are what keep things real and interesting. If I directed this, I’d like to try to have AI Angie be live. I suspect that’s tricky, though, but…
I suppose it is possible that AI Angie could hack into Merril’s phone to text her ex, Raquel, to come over, but I wasn’t sure about that. That sounded like sci-fi to me, although I bought it within the context of the play. Please don’t tell me if it can happen in real life, that’s so creepy, I just don’t want to know. However, we’re glad Raquel does get the message and comes over, as we see that she and Merril really do still care about each other. I enjoyed that scene a lot. I also was glad to see Brin, Angie and Merril’s mom, have a moment in the play (yes, please call me to play her!), even if she’s a mess. Ultimately, we don’t get enough of either of those characters. I think this should be a longer play with MORE from Mom and the girlfriend, please! Reading the reviews, I am not the only one. As interesting as the scenes with AI Angie are, scenes with real people are just MORE INTERESTING.
As an avid reader of the amateur detective genre (and sometimes professional detectives too), I have to say that the twist at the end (which I will NOT reveal) did not blow me away and I was like, what, the police didn’t think of that? Crafting mysteries is tricky, and I don’t really fault Gunderson for it, but that NEVER happens when I read Agatha Christie (or a LOT of other writers). That aside, I think I would really enjoy this show live, and would love to see it or do it (acting or directing - call me, I have directed LG’s work a couple times!). I SO wish I had seen this show in London, with both Dakota Blue Johnson and Abigail Thaw (any Endeavor fans out there?). Read this one, it’s fun and makes you think about how AI can be so valuable and also creepy and scary at the same time. A very timely piece; I’m still not sure how I feel about it (AI, not the play, I liked the play!).
READ MORE! Here’s what some of the critics had to say about productions:
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2023/sep/19/anthropology-review-hampstead-theatre-london
https://www.broadwayworld.com/westend/article/Review-ANTHROPOLOGY-Hampstead-Theatre-20230919