There’s a palpable sense of excitement and anticipation at the premiere performance of a new play, all the more so when it’s Australian. With founder Lochie Daniel’s policy of performing only new works, PitchWhite Productions consciously set us up for that feeling before each opening night. Melbourne playwright Louise Hopewell’s Only Human is PitchWhite’s sixth such production, and the anticipation was well matched by the absorption and satisfaction we felt while seeing it.
This is Hopewell’s first full length play and it is fascinating, focussed, questioning and very moving. Director Hannah Smith and her cast have explored and drawn a great deal from the script.
The play’s premise is challenging and contemporary. Eighty year old Ruth, a former nursing union activist, is in a nursing home where at first she receives indifferent care. Her daughter Jody, a paediatrician, gives Ruth as much support and attention as her busy and, indeed, fraught, life will allow. Abruptly, the nursing home embraces AI and replaces the care staff with robots. In Ruth’s case, it’s Scally, her 24/7 nursing carer. There follows a detailed, balanced – if at times troubling – examination of the impact of that “upgrade” to her care. Importantly, what may once have been prophetic yet fanciful Science Fiction (E M Forster’s 1909 short story The Machine Stops, for one), now actually seems possible. Indeed, similar trends abound.
This production makes excellent use of the world’s uncertainty about AI. Could this happen? Is it already? Do the benefits outweigh the misgivings?
The cast of three are excellent. Sharon Malujlo drew us into Ruth’s life with skill and charm. Her performance was compelling. Her portrayal of the development of dementia was exceptional, and readily believable. The role was carefully written and Malujlo engaged with it entirely. She was the central focus, both as an individual with a family and personal needs, but also as the victim (or is it the beneficiary?) of society’s technological advances. Further, she worked convincingly and naturally with the other actors.
Monica Patteson was most convincing as Ruth’s daughter, Jody. She made Jody completely relatable, asking the questions that many have of replacing humans with machines. Despite, and perhaps because of, Jody’s other very human concerns and distractions, the role needed to define and represent personal, family-centred feelings. Patteson did that entirely.
As the robot, Scally, Isiah Macaspac gave a splendid performance. His command of robotic voice intonation and movement was complete. His programmed self-assurance and smugness were unsettling, yet mechanical. In addition, though, he showed subtlety in gradually adapting to Ruth’s changing emotional and psychological needs as the play progressed. In that regard in particular, his was a fine performance. What could have been caricature, importantly, was not.
All three cast cohered well as an ensemble, with a number of strongly memorable exchanges, mostly in the dual scenes in all the permutations that a cast of three permits.
The simple set and supportive lighting plot gave rightful focus to the performers and what they said and represented.
It was a thoughtful and thought-provoking premiere, very well realised and acted.
All power to PitchWhite productions for bravely seeking out and bringing us such worthy contemporary Australian material.
