Cast of Characters:
DIRECTOR: An older man, late 40’s – 50’s. On the taller side, dressed in a baseball hat, button up, cotton vest, and dress pants. He is in charge of the operations and knows it. He is excited about the latest developments in theatre, but is wary of the moral cost of efficiency.
TECHNICIAN: A young man in a lab coat and glasses who carries a laptop. He has a bright vision for an efficient future, second-in-command to the Director.
GEORGE BENTLEY: Adult man, late 40’s – early 50’s. Tall, fit, with a salt-and-pepper beard. Famous Broadway and film actor set to appear in a new stage production.
ENSEMBLE: A group of men and women, aged 20 – 45, who play other technicians, robots, and members of the crew.
Prior to this scene, the DIRECTOR and the TECHNICIAN have been running the plays planned for the season. The first play is a realist play about a family comprised of a MOTHER, FATHER, GRANDFATHER, SON, and DAUGHTER. The DIRECTOR has decided to bring on a human replacement for FATHER in the form of GEORGE BENTLEY, both for artistic purposes as well as “name-brand quality.” In this scene, the DIRECTOR is finally able to integrate GEORGE into the realist play for the first time. He is getting frustrated with the emotional limits of the robotic actors. After this scene, the DIRECTOR and TECHNICIAN attempt to hone in a musical number, which emphasizes the uncanny nature of the robotic actors.
Act I
Scene 2
Setting: The tech rehearsal of an off-off-Broadway play.
DIRECTOR: Where is George? He should be here. I’m getting sick of watching this stand-in.
TECHNICIAN: (Scrolling through his tablet.) His call time isn’t until 3:00, sir. It appears he is with the costuming department right now.
DIRECTOR: Get him in here now, I want to run this scene with him in it. I want to get a feel for how it’s really going to go.
TECHNICIAN: That’s going to mess with the schedule. We’re still blocking all of the cues…
DIRECTOR: I don’t care! Get him down here!
TECHNICIAN: (Sighing, typing into his tablet.) You got it, Boss.
(TECHNICIAN walks to the back of the house to call the costuming department. DIRECTOR walks onstage and begins to fuss with the set – fixing the tablecloth, rearranging the flowers on the table, etc.)
(GEORGE enters from backstage. His hair is damp and parted, in the middle of a trim. He wears a hairdresser’s gown around his neck.)
GEORGE: You needed me?
DIRECTOR: Yeah, yeah, I want to see you run this scene before we really set the tone. I want to see how you drive it. You know your lines?
(ENSEMBLE, as technicians, enter and begin to reset the dinner scene, moving the robots back to their places and carrying FATHER offstage.)
GEORGE: Which scene is this?
DIRECTOR: (Walks down to the house, pulls a script out of his bag and flips through it.) Um… here. Act I, scene 3. The dinner table scene.
GEORGE: (Following the DIRECTOR into the house and looking over the script.) Yeah, I’ve got most of this. Mind if I hang on to this?
DIRECTOR: Sure, sure.
(GEORGE returns to the stage as the DIRECTOR walks to the center of the house and sits down. By now, the scene is reset. GEORGE takes the place of FATHER.)
GEORGE: (Examining the robots.) God… they’re so lifelike. I mean, the eyes and everything, it’s just…
DIRECTOR: (Interrupting.) Truly a miracle of modern science. Okay, you begin seated in that chair, then get up on the –
GEORGE: Yeah, on the line from the grandfather, right?
DIRECTOR: Sure, sure, you know your stuff, big-shot! Okay, ready when you are!
(TECHNICIAN nods and types into his tablet, starting the scene over again.)
MOTHER: So, children, how was your day at school?
SON: It was great! We learned about dinosaurs in history class! My favorite is the velociraptor. (Imitating a velociraptor.) Grrrr!
DAUGHTER: I learned how to do long division on the calculator!
GRANDFATHER: Back in my day, we didn’t have calculators! You had to do all the math by hand with nothing but a pencil and paper and your own brain. (He taps the side of his head with a finger.)
SON: I’ll never need to do math. I’m going to grow up to be a velociraptor! RAAAAR!
GEORGE: If you don’t eat your vegetables, you’re not going to be a very big velociraptor!
(The scene goes silent. GEORGE looks up at the DIRECTOR, who turns in his seat to look at the TECHNICIAN. TECHNICIAN types into his tablet.)
TECHNICIAN: (Looking up.) You’ve got to deliver the line exactly as it’s written, no paraphrasing. The robots get confused. They’re only triggered by exact sentence recognition.
GEORGE: Ah, sorry, my bad. Can we take it from the son’s math-velociraptor line again?
(TECHNICIAN nods and types into his tablet. SON moves back to deliver his line again.)
SON: I’ll never need to do math. I’m going to grow up to be a velociraptor! RAAAAR!
GEORGE: You’re not going to be a very big velociraptor if you don’t eat your vegetables, kiddo.
SON: (Whining.) Velociraptors don’t eat broccoli! They eat meat! RAAAR!
(The FAMILY starts laughing good-naturedly at SON’s imitation of a dinosaur. Suddenly, GRANDFATHER starts coughing terribly. MOTHER and GEORGE rush to his side. GRANDFATHER begins to pantomime sipping water, his coughing fit subsiding. GEORGE looks confused.)
DIRECTOR: Hold it, hold it, hold it. George, I think you’re supposed to get him the glass of water.
TECHNICIAN: Yeah, glass of water in his upstage hand seven seconds after his first cough.
GEORGE: Got it.
DIRECTOR: Let’s run it again.
(GEORGE returns to the table and a technician runs on to reseat MOTHER at the table. TECHNICIAN types into his tablet and GRANDFATHER sits up straight again as MOTHER’s face returns to a smile.)
SON: (Whining.) Velociraptors don’t eat broccoli! They eat meat! RAAAR!
(The FAMILY starts laughing good-naturedly at SON’s imitation of a dinosaur. Suddenly, GRANDFATHER starts coughing terribly. MOTHER rushes to his side and GEORGE pours him a glass of water. However, GRANDFATHER begins to drink before GEORGE can hand him the glass.)
DIRECTOR: Stop, stop stop, what happened?
TECHNICIAN: George, I think you need to be quicker. You have seven seconds to hand him the glass before he’s programmed to drink it.
DIRECTOR: Can’t you program it to give George more time?
TECHNICIAN: We could, but that would throw off all of the cues we have thus far. Try it with seven seconds and let’s see how it goes.
GEORGE: Seven seconds. Okay. No worries. (He exhales and sits back down at the table. The technician returns to seat MOTHER at the table as GRANDFATHER sits up straight again.)
SON: (Whining.) Velociraptors don’t eat broccoli! They eat meat! RAAAR!
(The FAMILY starts laughing good-naturedly at SON’s imitation of a dinosaur. Suddenly, GRANDFATHER starts coughing terribly. MOTHER rushes to his side and GEORGE quickly pours him a glass of water. GEORGE hands GRANDFATHER the water and it splashes a bit in his hurry.)
TECHNICIAN: Careful with the robots!
(GRANDFATHER sips the water slowly, his coughing fit subsiding. GEORGE turns to check his script as the action continues.)
MOTHER: (Aside, to GEORGE.) Maybe we’d better get him upstairs to rest. He had a bad day today.
(GEORGE turns back and nods, distracted by GRANDFATHER – a robot – drinking a glass of water. MOTHER begins to help GRANDFATHER out of his chair and up center to the door leading offstage. GEORGE absentmindedly pushes in MOTHER’s chair. MOTHER and GRANDFATHER exit up center, making a wide berth around where the chair used to be.)
GEORGE: (To SON and DAUGHTER.) Ok, kids, you finished dinner? Let’s see what kind of homework you guys have tonight.
SON: Velociraptors don’t need to do homework!
GEORGE: Smart velociraptors who listen to their velociraptor fathers do! (He goes to pick up SON and pauses.) Uh… how do you want me to do this? I don’t want to break it or anything.
TECHNICIAN: Scoop him up from the back – one arm under his knees, one under his arms.
(GEORGE goes to pick up SON.) Wait, wait, wait, he won’t do anything right now, I’ve paused the action. You have to do it after you deliver the line.
(GEORGE picks up SON around the middle to get a sense of the weight. SON stands stock-still in pause mode.)
GEORGE: Okay, okay, can we take it from the last velociraptor line?
(TECHNICIAN types into his tablet.)
SON: Velociraptors don’t need to do homework!
GEORGE: Smart velociraptors who listen to their velociraptor fathers do! (He growls at SON and scoops him up into his arms, not quite getting the balance right. SON laughs.)
DAUGHTER: Dad, dad! I’m going to be a scientist when I grow up, so I can dig up his bones!
(SON screams happily and goes to jump out of GEORGE’s arms, but GEORGE is still trying to hold him correctly. SON crashes to the floor and tries to continue his blocking on the floor as DAUGHTER runs to get their backpacks down right. GEORGE tries to pick up SON from the floor as DAUGHTER sits down at the table – still full of dishes – and begins to do her homework on top of the dirty plates. A technician runs onstage to right SON as the scene grinds to a halt.)
DIRECTOR: Hold it, hold it, hold it! What the hell was that?
GEORGE: Sorry, sorry, I couldn’t get my grip on it.
TECHNICIAN: We haven’t gotten a movement rehearsal in with the robots yet, sir. Everything’s been a bit backed up. (To ENSEMBLE TECHNICIAN.) Is BO29X okay?
ENSEMBLE MEMBER (TECHNICIAN): (Looking over SON, checking his frame.) Yeah, he’s fine, just a little scuffed up. I’ll run a diagnostic on him later.
GEORGE: Sorry, again. Damned things.
DIRECTOR: Forget the action, we can block it later. Can I just see you run the next part with the mother?
(GEORGE nods and grabs the script to review his lines. A few more technicians come on to remove SON, DAUGHTER, and GRANDFATHER as well as the dinner dishes and backpacks with homework. The technicians set the dirty dishes and MOTHER in the kitchen on stage left. GEORGE crosses to the kitchen and the lights dim until only the kitchen is lit.)
(GEORGE and MOTHER pile the dirty dishes into the sink. GEORGE begins to run the water in the sink as MOTHER leans against the island in the middle of the kitchen.)
MOTHER: I just don’t know what more we can do for him.
GEORGE: (Turning downstage.) Your father?
MOTHER: Yes. He’s gotten so much worse recently. Any little thing will set him off.
GEORGE: You’re doing your best. He’s comfortable, at least, and he’s surrounded by family.
MOTHER: They told me yesterday at his appointment that the medications are at their maximum. There’s nothing else we can do. He must be in constant pain, and he won’t tell me.
GEORGE: He doesn’t want to worry you. (Pause.) You’re taking good care of him, and it’s better than him being in a home or a hospital.
MOTHER: (Overlapping GEORGE.) But what if something happens? I mean, it’s great that the kids get to spend some time with their grandfather, but what happens if he… ? (She stops, paused by TECHNICIAN.)
TECHNICIAN: You need to deliver that last line faster, George. She’s on a timer for this part, it’ll overlap if you take too long.
GEORGE: Got it, got it. Keep up with the ‘bots. They’re in charge.
MOTHER: They told me yesterday at his appointment that the medications are at their maximum. There’s nothing else we can do. He must be in constant pain, and he won’t tell me.
GEORGE: He doesn’t want to worry you. (Rushed.) You’re taking good care of him, and it’s better than him being in a home or a hospital.
MOTHER: (Blank pause.) But what if something happens? I mean, it’s great that the kids get to spend some time with their grandfather, but what happens if he… ?
TECHNICIAN: Too fast that time.
GEORGE: Okay, okay. One more time.
MOTHER: They told me yesterday at his appointment that the medications are at their maximum. There’s nothing else we can do. He must be in constant pain, and he won’t tell me.
GEORGE: He doesn’t want to worry you. You’re taking good care of him, and it’s better than him being in a home or a hospital.
MOTHER: But what if something happens? I mean, it’s great that the kids get to spend some time with their grandfather, but what happens if he… ?
GEORGE: (After a brief moment of silence.) Well, let’s hope it doesn’t happen too soon. We can only hope for the best.
(Tears welling in her eyes, MOTHER moves to hug GEORGE, who has moved too far downstage. She holds out her arms and leans against nothing.)
GEORGE: Oh, am I supposed to be upstage more?
DIRECTOR: Yeah, I want you to hug at the end. Does that work for you?
GEORGE: Sure, I guess, I –
TECHNICIAN: Doesn’t matter what works, just don’t go as far downstage. Let’s run it again.
(DIRECTOR glances at TECHNICIAN before returning to the action. A technician moves MOTHER a foot to stage left, GEORGE returns to his place.)
MOTHER: But what if something happens? I mean, it’s great that the kids get to spend some time with their grandfather, but what happens if he… ?
GEORGE: (After a brief moment of silence.) Well, let’s hope it doesn’t happen too soon. We can only hope for the best.
(GEORGE takes a step toward MOTHER, who awkwardly walks into him as she tries to hug him. GEORGE shuffles a bit until he is fully in her arms and glances out uncomfortably into the house.)
GEORGE: This is… strange.
TECHNICIAN: We’ll get the kinks worked out later. The stand-in robot was shorter than you.
GEORGE: (Still standing with MOTHER’s arms around him.) It’s just so… cold… and rubbery. And the face moves, but it’s not like a real person… I don’t know. This is all a bit much.
DIRECTOR: (As a technician finally appears to take MOTHER offstage.) Don’t worry about it, George. This is the future of acting! (He stands and begins to walk onstage.)
GEORGE: Oh yeah, of course, this is amazing, don’t get me wrong. There’s just something off about it.
TECHNICIAN: It’s probably just that we don’t have all the gears in place to get the full range of facial movement. You see, there are so many tiny muscles in a human face that it’s nearly impossible to –
DIRECTOR: Yeah, yeah, they’re still in the works, but by the time we open this company will be the talk of Broadway! I’m telling you, this is where we need to be!
ENSEMBLE MEMBER (CREW MEMBER): (Entering from backstage.) Mr. Bentley, we need you back downstairs to finish your haircut.
GEORGE: Sounds like I’ve got to get going…
DIRECTOR: Go ahead, George, we’ll keep running things up here. (GEORGE and the crew member exit.)
DIRECTOR: (To TECHNICIAN.) God, can’t you program those things to work with the actors? George Bentley is a big name! We can’t have him in here while we’re fussing with the robots at all hours of the day!
TECHNICIAN: I promise you, sir, we’re working at maximum within the constraints of the technology. It isn’t perfected yet. Faulty wires, uncanny facials, word recognition programs – these things take time. If you could get Mr. Bentley in here more often for rehearsals –
DIRECTOR: I promised that man that he would be able to walk in and take on this role within a week due to this technology – no work with other actors, no late nights spent on tech rehearsals, he’s just stuck in with all the other ‘bots and he’s the star!
TECHNICIAN: I’m sorry sir, but like I said, we’re doing our best. It’s not like I can remind the robots to keep up with Mr. Bentley.
DIRECTOR: Don’t sass me, young man.
TECHNICIAN: Apologies, sir. Just letting you know.
DIRECTOR: (Walking back out into the house.) Can I see the dance number?
TECHNICIAN: Sure thing. Fellas! Clear the stage for the dance number! Program 85 going online!
(Many technicians in lab coats enter from the wings and begin to clear the stage – carrying off the immobile robots, changing set pieces, resetting lights. Some robots [ensemble members] are redressed onstage, so that the audience can see the machinery and wires underneath. The stage set has been reset to mimic Chicago.)
TECHNICIAN: (Typing into his laptop.) Program 85 online, and… go.
(The ENSEMBLE begins to perform the opening number from Chicago. Their movements are fluid but eerie, because they were not built to move this way. They are smiling broadly and cheerily as they slink about the stage in black bodysuits and tights.)
DIRECTOR: Christ, haven’t you ever seen Chicago? Turn off their damn smiles.
(The technician furiously types on his laptop, and on one beat the ENSEMBLE drops their smiles. On another beat their faces turn into anger. On another beat, their faces turn into uncanny smoldering looks. They are never quite able to get the right facial appearance, but the dance continues.)
DIRECTOR: Eh… maybe we should have gone with a more cheery dance number. You got anything else programmed into them?
TECHNICIAN: Not as of now… you were insistent we do Chicago. You said it would sell better.
DIRECTOR: But wouldn’t it work better with something like Oklahoma? Something easy breezy? I worry the subtleties of Chicago require more facial muscles than you’ve got in these robots right now.
TECHNICIAN: It took us three weeks to program Chicago into these robots. If you want them to do Oklahoma!, you’ll have to wait another three weeks, or even longer.
DIRECTOR: Christ, I don’t have that kind of time. Okay. Run the dance for me again, and for the love of God don’t make it look like they’re going to kill the audience.
TECHNICIAN: I’ll do my best.
(He types into his tablet as the ENSEMBLE runs on to set the robots to their starting positions. After the setup is complete, TECHNICIAN types again into his tablet and the robots begin their dance once again, this time with blank faces.)
Following these scenes, a revolt occurs. Many actors interrupt the rehearsal to call out the DIRECTOR for attempting to mimic artistic vision with technology. However, following the revolt, it is revealed that it was all a plan – the angry actors are all robots of the same form. After staging the revolt, the DIRECTOR calls it a night and the crew packs away the robots. However, after the humans have left the theatre and the building is dark, the robots come to life one by one as they charge, mimicking the revolt from earlier. The play ends and we are left to question – just how much autonomy do these robots have?
AUTHOR BIO
Brianna Schunk is earning a BA in English and a BFA in Dance from Wilkes University. She on staff for Wilkes’ literary magazine Manuscript and is a staff writer for Cripple Magazine. Her poems have appeared in Sagebrush Review, Manuscript, and Luzerne County, Pennsylvania’s Poetry in Transit 2018.