Loneliness Was a Pandemic

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Consider, if you will, a time when technology has created a society filled with robots that resemble humans physically, mentally, but, not emotionally. Their functional action has moved from a state of static programming to one of dynamic programming, where they have agency. This change has led them to consider themselves superior to humans. They are experts at technically copying everything humans can do except create something from nothing more than an idea or a feeling.

Loneliness Was a Pandemic, a one-act play by Olivia Haller, is a work of speculative fiction exploring the meaning of artistic creation. Alex Kopnick’s sharp direction brings to life a story of subjugation in the interests of understanding but at the cost of lost humanity. The play explores the nature of the creative process in a way that contrasts artistic mimicry with artistic expression. It explores the complexity of the creative process through the interactions of two characters, one human and one robotic.

Haller has created a world where robots have conquered all of humanity through the ability to copy, with precision, the technical aspects of a functional society. The lack of understanding of human artistic creation keeps them from destroying a particular element of human culture: creative artists. The missing element in the totality of their superior nature is the spark of artistic creation. It is an aspect of humans they do not fully understand. So, they keep alive those humans considered to be creative artists in an attempt to understand and replicate the human ability of singular artistic creation.

The play opens with a discussion between a robot and a painter. This opening establishes the core of what is to be played out in the drama. Robot 1, solidly portrayed by Andres Moorhead, discusses the Rene Magritte painting “The Key of the Fields” with Human 1, an established human artist beautifully embodied by Emily Sullivan. She is trying to explain to him why the painting is not simply a painting of a field but the expression of the painter’s feelings being imparted to the viewer.

After a short exchange about the nature of feelings, the following takes place:

ROBOT 1: We know the brain patterns you emit when you experience certain feelings. We have tried to replicate them, to respond in certain ways when we receive certain stimuli, but it does not make sense. There is no purpose to it. They do not serve a function.

HUMAN 1: But you’re still trying to get them?

ROBOT 1: We do not want feelings, we want art. Art is the one thing we cannot create. I am a robot that has learned painting technique. I know how to create new art from existing works of art. However, I cannot create works of my own.

This discussion leads to the revelation that only creative artists have survived the robot extermination of humans, and the only reason they are being kept alive is to teach the robots how to be creative and not simply technicians. It also reveals that all of the artists are kept in isolation from each other. This factor introduces a solid dramatic element to the story since a part of the creative process involves interactions with other humans.

The robots provide some human contact through a video link with Human 2. She is someone Human 1 had a relationship with. Cleopatra Boudreau plays Human 2, and although her performance is mainly through a video projection, the projection is not a recording since she does appear on stage in a later scene.

The video interaction between the two humans explores the idea behind teaching the robots about human feelings. Human 2 disagrees with Human 1s attempts at teaching robots about human feelings since the robots killed nearly all humans. She feels that Human 1 should be looking for revenge.

The idea of revenge, in a sense, is played out in later scenes as Human 1 tries to find ways to teach Robot 1 about feelings through pain and suffering. Robot 1’s understanding of human emotions is what, in human terms, would be called intellectual, a thing devoid of emotional mediation. A second robot, Robot 2, is a security monitor system in the living space of Human 1 that is represented through a voice. Yi Ming Sofyia Xue is the disembodied voice acting as an element in underscoring the impersonal environment that Human 1 occupies.

Kopnick skillfully guides Sullivan and Moorhead through the exploration of the nuance and complexity of human emotions as they relate not only to the creative arts but also to the structure and meaning of human relationships. It is an intellectual discussion that could be perceived as an academic philosophical exercise if not skillfully handled. Haller does a superb job of building a dramatic story arc that deals with complex ideas engagingly and entertainingly. Loneliness Was a Pandemic is a one-act play worth seeing, not only for the actors’ skill but for the ideas being presented and explored.

The set by Zhuosi (Joyce) He effectively conveys a living space as might be expected from a robotic society without an understanding of the emotional impact of setting on a human: simple, sparse, but functional and devoid of feeling. Kopnick’s projection design seamlessly conveys essential moments of the story without being a distraction. Sarah Woods’s lighting design solidly complements the projection design and Mitch Toher’s sound design. The costume design by Sophie Taylor fits with the setting’s robotic sparseness, providing solid support to the depiction of the characters. Finally, composer Brian Eng’s music offers strong support for the loneliness and isolation the human characters feel.

Loneliness Was a Pandemic (through November 24, 2024)

KOPCORP

TheaterLab, 357 West 36^th Street, in Manhattan.

For tickets, visit https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/1213234

Running time: 100 minutes without an intermission