Agostino Futia
Program Associate

“The Technology Plays” Project, an experimental form of theatre, presented at the University at Albany in collaboration with Capital Repertory Theatre and Apple Computer Inc. garnered national media attention with articles in The New York Times and The New York Times Magazine. The Plays were funded in part by The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation’s “Imagining America” Program, as well as The Beatrice and Robert Herman Foundation, the Offices of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Vice President for Research.

In his New York Times article titled “Hey, That Big Computer Is Really a Great Actor” , James C. McKinley Jr. describes the Plays as “a theater experiment that is trying to take the old man-versus-machine theme to new extremes…an unsettling exhibition challenging conventional notions of what theater can be and how it can be delivered.” The Plays feature works by Pulitzer Prize-winning author and UAlbany Professor William Kennedy and international playwright and screenwriter Richard Dresser. Each play is “set” in a unique booth designed house the equipment through which one audience member at a time interacts with various forms of technology including computers, cell phones and ATMs.

Mr. Dresser’s play, “Greetings from the Home Office”, is described in The New York Times as “a strange hybrid, a mix of an art installation, a morality play and a computer game.” Mr. Dresser creates a zany roller coaster ride into the high-stakes cutthroat world of corporations. On the first day of work, a newly hired executive receives a congratulatory phone call from a co-worker that leads to a frantic call, urgent messages and a world of intrigue. Mr. Dresser is quoted as saying, “I’m just trying to spread a little bit of discomfort, because I don’t think there is enough of that in the world,” as he chuckles.

But the most provocative of the plays, according to The New York Times, is Mr. Kennedy’s “In the System” where technology is used to explore a highly publicized paramutual betting crime at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga, N.Y. Mr. McKinley from The New York Times describes Mr. Kennedy’s play as “really a digital film, played on an enormous computer screen that breaks up into different parts, giving the viewer several scenes at once. The climax involves six scenes, with the characters all stepping on one another’s lines, giving the impression of a high-tech montage that somehow works not only as a climax but also as the denouement.” Mr. McKinley describes its effects as “disorienting and disturbing.”

The Technology Plays were also mentioned in The New York Times Magazine “3rd Annual Year in Ideas” review. Each December, The Times Magazine compiles a team of reporters and investigators who take a look back at the year and report on the most innovative and intriguing ideas they can find. In the article entitled, “Theater for One”, by Paul Tough, “The Technology Plays” are mentioned as an example to describe how live theater is evolving from a crowd experience to an individual experience as art and technology unite.

The Technology Plays are currently on exhibit at Capital Repertory Theatre in Albany, New York until the end of May. The Plays will then be housed at various venues throughout the Capital Region. Please visit the homepage of the web site at www.albany.edu/humanitech in the near future as locations will be posted.

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