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I’d have a lot of clever things to say about the James Knipple-directed version of Debbie Harbin’s reimagining of Karl Capek’s 1921 classic RUR (Rossum’s Universal Robots), but it’s late in the game. The essential point is this: James Knipple has returned to Baltimore, complete with a graduate degree in directing, to guest direct at Run of the Mill Theater (which he founded eight years ago), to stretch the city’s dramatic imagination a few more degrees. There are two more days left to see (or to experience) RUR: Reboot at Load of Fun on North Avenue, because it ends on February 27.
Rur: Reboot is a standing-room-only production, although that doesn’t mean that you can’t buy tickets. It’s standing room, that is, because the audience stays on its feet for about an hour, in a room largely populated by actors representing avatars in a case of Artificial Intelligence gone amuck.
But don’t worry. If you can handle a one hour party, complete with strobe lights, and weird videos, this comes easily. The play is loosely (and I mean loosely) based on the old classic, RUR by Karel Capek, which has been (wisely) shortened and stripped down into a 22nd century laptop version that moves (or, more accurately, reboots) the plot as it transitions from historical nightmare to video game to rave.
This reimagining by Debbie Harbin is based on the premise that Mr. Capek’s original, complete with tin-man robots falling in love, is, after a century, a little outdated.
Ozymandius, masterfully played by Run of the Mill’s artistic director David Mitchell, is a nutty scientist who manages to shift from cabbage hydroponics (is that the right word?) to redesigning the human brain. His creation, Radius (Justin Johnson) is part of an evolving master race of robots who gradually seem to be taking over the planet. The robots find love.
As audience members, we are walking among the robots, mingling with them, and wondering who among us is an actor, an android, a director, or a mere onlooker. The cycles of history seem to be working around us, and, after a few initially uncomfortable minutes, the audience and the robots themselves are blended into a room where, in the end, the question of who is a robot (or not) seems to be all that’s left of Capek’s initial program.
This is a risky production, and Jim Knipple and company have pulled out the stops. Audience members find themselves watching robots fall in love, watching humans fall in love with robots, and, if they want to, dance with robots. But this isn’t a formless party; the cast is finely tuned to take full advantage of the stage itself.
There are moments, at the beginning, and at the end, when it’s unclear whether the person standing in front of you is an actor or a robot, or both. The exuberant edginess of the production gives you a lot to think about without necessarily making you think you’re thinking. But this plunge into retro-futurism transforms the idea of a future controlled by robots to the reality of the video game and dance floor. But, given the lateness of the evening, I’ll stop right there. RUR: Reboot is about dropping off your preconceptions (and seating preferences) and sharing an experience. So enjoy!
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