It’s the sort of premise that the Flight of the Conchords could write a song about. Travis Cotton, the writer and director of Robot Vs Art, has created a bitingly funny and oddly thought-provoking play about the value of creativity in a world where order, precision and zinc production are considered the most important features of society.
Daniel Frederiksen plays Giles, one of the last surviving humans on Earth following the (inevitable?) robot uprising. A former playwright and sometime theatre director (“Well, I dabbled…” is one of the many great industry jokes that pepper the script), Giles is now working two kilometres underground, mining minerals for his robot masters and doing anything he can to avoid a “chaining”. He is brought up to the surface by Masterbot (Simon Maiden), who has written the first robot play. Giles is tasked with directing it for performance to a robot audience. Hijinks ensue.
It’s a great idea that could have been a disaster on a stage, but Cotton executes it to near perfection. The comic timing from all performers is absolutely stellar, particularly Maiden, whose tuxedo-clad Masterbot is the model of smooth-faced decorum laced with cool, calm threats. Paul Goddard’s talent for awkward physical comedy gifts him some of the play’s biggest laughs as a cumbersome claw-handed robot with body dysmorphia issues, while Natasha Jacobs’ precise performance brings a perfect amount of chilliness to her lady-bot love interest. At the centre of the circus is Frederiksen, who is excellent as Giles. He manages to keep out of the way of his fellow performers’ jokes, but delivers enough great moments himself to keep his character from becoming just another straight man.
Yes, Robot Vs Art is hilarious. From wonderfully meta theatre jokes to all-out physical comedy, this play delivers the funny in spades. Executing comedy on stage can be a tall order, especially when aiming for a science-fiction feel on a limited budget, but it works beautifully here.
Not only is Robot Vs Art funny, but it’s satisfyingly unpredictable too. It eschews the obvious plot developments, preferring to take the audience to a slightly more unusual conclusion. It would have been enough for the play simply to be funny, but by rejecting the more obvious story developments, it grows into something quite thought-provoking. Robots Vs Art is more than a comedy about humanity’s fall to its synthetic creations; it’s even more than a look at the role of art in society, and the contribution made by our creatives. At its deepest, Robot Vs Art is a reflection on the nature of desire, and the idea that the things we want, even if they seem completely indispensible, may not be the same for the person (or robot) standing next to us.
Robot Vs Art is a gem of a production: funny, smart, surprising and beautifully executed. It’s easily some of the best original theatre to emerge in Melbourne this year. Not to be missed.
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Robot Vs Art
Written and directed by Travis Cotton
Designer: Nick Waddell
Performed by Daniel Frederiksen, Simon Maiden, Natasha Jacobs and Paul Goddard
Produced by Paul Ashcroft
La Mama Courthouse, Carlton
May 31 – June 10
