Publication: The Daily Gazette
Section: Albany/NYS
Edition: Final
Published: 11/11/03
Page: B-04

'Futuristic' plays fuse art, sciences

Audience watches drama in booth

Byline: By SARA FOSS

ALBANY _ William Kennedy's new play is opening at a machine near you. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author wrote one of six new plays that debuted Monday at the University at Albany. The works use computers, video streaming, e-mail, intercoms, an ATM machine and other devices to explore the effect of technology on human relationships.

Called "The Technology Plays," the $70,000 project is a joint enterprise of the Capital Repertory Theatre in Albany and the University at Albany. The production is sponsored by Apple Computer Inc., which provided $40,000. With the exception of Kennedy's play, which is about 12 minutes long, the plays run between 5 and 7 minutes and are viewed on a computer screen.

"This is a very futuristic, cutting-edge project," said Mary Valentis, director of the university's HUMAN-E-TECH Project, an interdisciplinary initiative that promotes bringing together the humanities and the sciences. "We took drama and fused it with new technology. This is really about the past meeting the future."

"The Technology Plays" is a cross between an art installation and theater.

The audience watches each play in a booth, or viewing module, of about seven cubic feet. The booths are ventilated and wired for electricity and sound.

In one play, "Beyond the Firewall," written by 2002 University at Albany graduate Daniel Whalen, the audience gathers in a room designed to look like an office in the federal Department of Homeland Security. There is a desk containing a cup full of No. 2 pencils, a phone and other bureaucratic furnishings, and pictures of President Bush and the Statue of Liberty hang on the wall.

"Beyond the Firewall" requires some audience participation: in order to start the play the viewer has to click on a computer icon labeled "Click Here to Begin Capture." The play takes the actors out of the loop entirely: all the viewer sees is an instant message conversation between two characters named Daniel and Melissa.

The exchange is being monitored by a functionary in the Department of Homeland Security. At the bottom of the screen, the colors of a threat level index change when words like "Osama" are mentioned, and eventually Melissa and Daniel are added to a pool of potential terrorists.

Kennedy's play, "In the System," was inspired by last spring's Breeders' Cup wagering scandal. Viewers watch two 28-year-old hackers discuss how they plan to tap into the online racing system and alter their bets once the race results are in. Eventually, the men are taken away in handcuffs. Occasionally, graphics such as galloping horses float across the screen.

Kennedy described his play as "a love story between a man, a woman, another man, several machines, faith, hope, fate, a deer and a dog."

"We're much more aware of the world of science and technology than we ever were, but it still remains exotic to the layman," said Kennedy, the author of the Albany-based novels "Ironweed" and "Roscoe."

"Greetings from the Home Office," written by screenwriter Richard Dresser, explores a new employee's plunge into the world of corporate intrigue on his first day at a new job.

The mission of "The Technology Plays," Dresser said, "tapped into things I feel very deeply about, such as the insidious nature of technology and how it has transformed personal relationships."

The other plays are "1 + 1 = O," by Daniel Ho, "parse.a.PERSON" by Stacy Orsini and "Chip" by Malcolm Messersmith.

"The Technology Plays" project is funded in part by a $10,000 matching grant from the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation's "Imagining America" Public Scholarship Grants Program. The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation is a nonprofit organization based in New Jersey.

"The Technology Plays" will run through Nov. 26 in the atrium of the University at Albany's New Library. The plays can be watched at any time during library hours, which run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The plays will eventually appear in different sites throughout the Capital Region, including the Apple store in Crossgates Mall, Capital Repertory Theatre and Albany International Airport.

Apple Computer Inc. donated all of the computer equipment and software necessary to produce the plays and also served as a technical resource on the entire project.

Reach Gazette reporter Sara Foss at 432-4391 or saraafoss@aol.com.

Source: Gazette Reporter

Return to Press / Recent News page