Clichés and clumsiness cause this AI parable to glitch
‘Disruption’ seems to be the hot-button word when depicting tech geniuses battling the establishment (see: Edward Norton’s slimeball in Glass Onion). However, when a character claims to be a ‘disruptor’ and subsequently seeks investment from Google, it alludes to a fundamental issue of squaring the zeitgeist with theatrical consistency.
This issue is pervasive throughout Andrew Stein’s new play Disruption at the Park Theatre, directed by Hersh Ellis. It feels as if Stein is trying to mould a pastiche of styles from both theatre and film, but is lacking in both the execution of these styles and in fluency between them.
The premise is intriguing: New York tech-zillionaire Nick (Oliver Alvin-Wilson) brings a proposal to his slightly less zillionaire friends, an algorithm that advances beyond recommending French windows on Wickes towards recommending career moves, relationship advice, changes to one’s very life. The friends, a hodgepodge of messy marriages and big houses that aren’t quite big enough, are drawn into the proposal until the algorithm’s level of knowledge gets legs wobbling.
The fraught marital scenes between Paul and Jill (Nick Read and Mika Simmons), which try to zing with the bitter resentment of a Marriage Story, oscillate between tepid jabs and eggy put-downs. The group scenes discussing the AI, which try to bubble à la Social Network with the frantic excitement of new technology, are plodding. When Nick explains his ethos, it is as if he is narrating a Mission Impossible trailer, and his accomplice Raven (Sasha Desouza-Willock) – sorority girl façade concealing her status as the true mastermind behind Nick’s plans – does not make her dual personalities clear enough.
There are bright spots. Debbie Korley’s charming and inquisitive Suzie grounds a script that often feels like it has its head in the clouds. Zoe Hurwitz’s set design is gripping, a floor that glows like a motherboard and projections that pull the story into the future. However, whenever the piece gains a bit of momentum, it is undone by a combination of fragile writing and indecisive performances.
There is promise here, to be sure, but a clear artistic vision and deeper characters are needed in order for this play to shake up the system.