INTERVIEW: ‘2021’ explores the theme of digital resurrection
The Under the Radar festival is in full swing, and one of the most exciting, thought-provoking pieces is called 2021, an examination of many topics, including artificial intelligence (AI), human remembrance and machine logic. There’s a good deal of audience participation in the Mitu Expansion work.
Performances of 2021 run through Saturday, Jan. 17, at Mitu580 in Brooklyn. The piece was created by Cole Lewis, Patrick Blenkarn and Sam Ferguson; these artists have crafted a theatrical piece that has no set runtime because so much can happen that is unexpected.
According to press notes, an audience member is selected to play the role of Brian, described as an unhoused veteran reliving his final weeks in a digital hospital. Ultimately, the piece is about the perils of digital resurrection, a theme that is also explored in the Broadway play Marjorie Prime.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Lewis, Blenkarn and Ferguson to learn more about 2021. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
How much is AI part of your day-to-day life?
LEWIS: AI is part of my daily life, but less as a tool and more as a collaborator. Helping to build the model for 2021 made me much more aware of the limits in AI and of the responsibility carried by the human choices behind it.
When you think of the topic of digital resurrection, what words come to mind?
LEWIS: Care and memory, mixed with grief and a touch of the uncanny.
How is audience participation worked into the piece?
BLENKARN: Active participation is a key part of 2021. Each night we invite an audience member to step into the role of Cole’s father, Brian, by playing a video game version of his experiences in a hospital at the end of his life.
FERGUNSON: The rest of the audience is also encouraged to call out and help him from afar, just as Cole did while he was dying, by giving the player directions or helping the player overcome puzzles and obstacles.
LEWIS: And audience participation, including the choices made by the player inside the hospital, has a direct impact on the final conversation in Act III.
Do the details of the work feel like science fiction or something that is on the verge of happening?
BLENKARN: The work draws from a lot of different forms — of theatre, video games and cinema — and also genres like docudrama and autofiction.
LEWIS: The AI, however, and its use in digital resurrection, is something that is already happening in our world. It might feel like science fiction to some, but it’s really not.
Is there a fear factor involved when relying so much on technology during a live play? What if something doesn’t work?
BLENKARN: Just like all good theatre trying to push boundaries, something could always go wrong! Players could also do something never done before, and our AI actor could say things we never thought it would.
FERGUSON: 2021’s music is also improvised, and it’s the combination of all these things that make it feel so alive each night.
To take a line from the play’s description: How do we provide dignity in death to those we fundamentally disagree with?
LEWIS: I wish I had an easy answer to that question. 2021 invites us to come together and sit in that discomfort, rather than resolve it.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
2021 continues at Mitu580 in Brooklyn through Saturday, Jan. 17. Click here for more information and tickets.
