Voice Commands at BeBe Theatre
After seeing Voice Commands, theatergoers who rely on their phones’ digital assistants may think twice about prompting the AI for help. And those who’ve shunned this technology may revert to flip-phones and/or landlines — albeit accepting that they’ll miss out on some decent mood-lifting robo-jokes.
At the BeBe Theatre for co-presenter The Sublime Theater’s usual short but sweet six-show run, this quadriptych of quasi-connected one-acts from the The Cardboard Sea team of playwright Jeff Donnelly and director Todd Weakley offers darkly humorous looks at modern life and our relationships with disembodied voices.
The ever-present AI in each act is Siri’s and Alexa’s fictional cousin, Robin, and each actor in this talented four-person ensemble excels at their turn to inhabit the vocal role. All four acts begin with a different performer standing behind a see-through screen at the back of the stage, though, mirroring many humans’ reliance on digital assistants, Robin is inevitably pulled forward and into more active and intimate roles in the characters’ lives.
The actors are all likewise sharp in their human parts, particularly the one-two punch of Eddie Yoffee’s part-time crime fixer Nick and Iliana Hernandez as mysterious fugitive Jordan in “My Gang is Ghosts,” and consecutive act turns from the versatile Charlie Holt, first as forensic investigator Sinclair (“The Acrobat”), then as overworked employee PJ (“The Invitation”).
But the clear star of Voice Commands is Kristi DeVille, whose chameleonic range across the first three acts is a wonder to behold. From her opening turn as a lovesick woman in “Burned” who just wants to hear her coping mechanism song, she seamlessly pivots to the most sonically convincing Robin in “My Gang is Ghosts,” which also loops her in as a key character in a flashback with Nick. And after a brief respite, DeVille returns as potential murder suspect Eleanor in “The Acrobat,” who swears to Holt’s Sinclair that her (extremely convincing) limp and cane usage has nothing to do with the deceased woman who previously lived in her apartment.
While DeVille ably handles the complex assignments thrown her way, the production occasionally proves overly ambitious as it time-hops and suggests the technology at hand is capable of physical activity and even communing with the dead. These shaggier moments still mostly work but underscore that Voice Commands is most effective when Robin’s actions stay realistic and relatable.
Indeed, laughs of empathy from techno-savvy audience members add to the fun and form a palpable sense of community — part of an overall lighthearted experience buoyed by Robin’s aforementioned jokes and hilarious moments when characters call others’ bluffs as being culture vultures of Billy Joel and the TV series Bones.
The writing and acting are consistently strong enough that the material would likely sing with merely a couple of chairs to complement Robin’s screen “home.” Yet a handful of additional furniture items combined with thoughtful lighting and sound design brings to life a home and remote office, an apartment building, and a sketchy public park.
More dramatic lighting also allows for some impressive sleight of hand and augments the emotional impact of the show’s two big reveals, which Weakley pulls off exceedingly well. Neither resolution has life-changing aspirations, and Voice Commands at large isn’t out to make any grand statements about AI. But the cast and crew’s ability to forge connections and get attendees thinking about technological dependence without being instructed to do so is nevertheless its own kind of grand statement.
Voice Commands runs through Saturday, July 27, at The BeBe Theatre. For details and tickets, visit this link.
(Photo courtesy of The Cardboard Sea)
