Artifically Yours - Riverside Studios

[lt]

Saw this play this afternoon, described as a black comedy, I don't think it's particular black, but I did think it was very funny. Very impressive debut by 21 year old playwright Aaron Thakar who also stars in the play.

Leslie Ash leads the play, which tells the story of three couples, receiving advice from Agape (a sort of Alexa for relationship advice).

Great comic timing and acting from all the cast, with a number of laugh out loud moments. Script could probably do with a bit of trimming towards the end. But aside from that, if you are looking for an entertaining and fun evening at the theatre, go and see this.

[Dr Tom]

A tricky one really. I like the idea behind the play (couples have a smart speaker which listens to everything going on, reads their vocal tones, replays their discussions for them to analyse, predicts the future for them and provides relationship advice etc), but the implementation is very disjointed. Sometimes the speaker interjects to stop arguments. Sometimes it pretends it's not there and allows the debate to continue (the conflict is needed for theatrical reasons, but makes no logical sense).

It feels like this should be a play about two young couples, but a third one was added but only loosely connected to extend the running time and provide some star power. As such, this currently runs one hour 45 minutes without an interval, but would be much more comfortable at 85 to 90 minutes.

There is social commentary here on the rapid adoption of AI, but you have to suspend disbelief a lot. The problem is, the product listed just couldn't be sold. There are a lot of safeguards in place within the UK surrounding AI. It's also not scientifically possible that it could work as listed, even with all the technological advances we're seeing. I do talk about this subject regularly as part of my main job and AI is not a form of magic.

A few people in the audience clearly found this very funny, although some of them were associated with the show. I did find this interesting and watchable, but I wouldn't consider it a comedy. The cast is good, and I think the way they scripted Jake Mavis to keep having to take his shirt off will be appreciated by many.

Hats off to Aaron Thakar for a promising debut play, and also for playing the most believable character (an out-of-work actor). There are plenty of ticket deals about for this and there's enough to appreciate to make this worth the trip to Hammersmith, but if you do want to see this, see it now. I wouldn't anticipate a transfer without some rework.

Seating is unallocated, so do get in the queue early if you have a preferred place to sit (tiered seating in Studio 3).

[lt]

Apr 14, 2024 18:18:01 GMT Dr Tom said:

A tricky one really. I like the idea behind the play (couples have a smart speaker which listens to everything going on, reads their vocal tones, replays their discussions for them to analyse, predicts the future for them and provides relationship advice etc), but the implementation is very disjointed. Sometimes the speaker interjects to stop arguments. Sometimes it pretends it's not there and allows the debate to continue (the conflict is needed for theatrical reasons, but makes no logical sense).

It feels like this should be a play about two young couples, but a third one was added but only loosely connected to extend the running time and provide some star power. As such, this currently runs one hour 45 minutes without an interval, but would be much more comfortable at 85 to 90 minutes.

There is social commentary here on the rapid adoption of AI, but you have to suspend disbelief a lot. The problem is, the product listed just couldn't be sold. There are a lot of safeguards in place within the UK surrounding AI. It's also not scientifically possible that it could work as listed, even with all the technological advances we're seeing. I do talk about this subject regularly as part of my main job and AI is not a form of magic.

A few people in the audience clearly found this very funny, although some of them were associated with the show. I did find this interesting and watchable, but I wouldn't consider it a comedy. The cast is good, and I think the way they scripted Jake Mavis to keep having to take his shirt off will be appreciated by many.

Hats off to Aaron Thakar for a promising debut play, and also for playing the most believable character (an out-of-work actor). There are plenty of ticket deals about for this and there's enough to appreciate to make this worth the trip to Hammersmith, but if you do want to see this, see it now. I wouldn't anticipate a transfer without some rework.

Seating is unallocated, so do get in the queue early if you have a preferred place to sit (tiered seating in Studio 3).

Clearly we have very different views on the show! But the reason that Agape only sometimes responds is because like Alexa it needs the alert word to wake up. I'm not connected to the show and thought it was vdefinitely a comedy, which made me laugh out loud a number of times. I don't think it's supposed to be some factually based social commentary on what AI can do at the moment, but a comedy that shouldn't be taken too seriously.

[indabe]

Aaron Thakar shows promise with his debut play. I did feel the script needed more work and tightening up.
Also it would be better centered around 3 young couples, though understood how the Middle Aged couple tied into one of the younger characters. There were some laugh out loud moments and some witty dialogue Thought it might be better developed as a farce, rather than a social commentary on AI ruling our relationships, which somehow missed the mark for me.

[lt]

Apr 14, 2024 20:37:48 GMT indabe said:

Aaron Thakar shows promise with his debut play. I did feel the script needed more work and tightening up.
Also it would be better centered around 3 young couples, though understood how the Middle Aged couple tied into one of the younger characters. There were some laugh out loud moments and some witty dialogue Thought it might be better developed as a farce, rather than a social commentary on AI ruling our relationships, which somehow missed the mark for me.

But it's not supposed to be a social commentary on AI it's a comedy.