Why isn't there more science fiction on the stage?
The genre has not been entirely without impact in theatre. Consider the fact that the word "robot" was introduced to the English language through a 1920 play called R.U.R. by the Czech playwright Karel Capek. And yet, sci-fi has never developed an enduring presence at playhouses, either commercial or not for profit – and you can probably count the major Canadian playwrights who have dabbled in it on one hand. (Fabrizio Filippo, John Mighton and Kat Sandler come to mind.)
And so, Flashing Lights, a high-tech show full of screens and speculative scenarios about the future, currently on at the Theatre Centre, is a welcome attempt to expand that list. Though, the sci-fi play doesn't have a playwright per se – it was collectively created by the actors, with Guillermo Verdecchia (Fronteras Americanas) credited for the "text."
An ambitious co-production between indie companies Ahuri Theatre and Bad New Days Performance, it begins at a breakfast table in a society recognizable as our own.
Peter (Dan Watson) and Shannon (Miranda Calderon) sit down to bowls of Corn Pops with their teenage daughter, Ter (Liz Peterson), alongside three smartphones, a laptop and a tablet – not to mention a radio broadcast in the background.
To fully immerse us in this cacophony of the modern, hyper-connected family, director Adam Paolozza and his designers project images from many of the electronic devices on stage onto a see-through curtain draped in front of the action – and encircle us with sounds of the beeps and rings and buzzes they make. It's effectively frenetic: For one brief moment, I turned around angrily thinking an audience member behind me had not turned off his phone.
We move into the realm of science fiction, rather than science fact, quickly thereafter – when a video that Ter shot of Peter eating a bowl of cereal posted to her Instagram account goes viral.
Peter, a frustrated writer of novels and long-form journalism, becomes a meme known as Cereal Guy – and he gets his 15 minutes of fame, which is here depicted in a comically literal fashion.
As a giant clock ticks down the seconds behind him, Peter hires a team to manage his emerging brand, finds ways to monetize it – and then, after a series of misguided follow-up videos, watches the internet turn on him and his once trending #dadbod.
While this has been going on, Shannon has been busy at work launching a new product called Omni that can turn any surface into a screen – including human skin. She gradually becomes more and more interested in going fully digital and uploading herself into the cloud (shades of Filippo's The Summoned).
With nods to sci-fi classics (such as H.G. Wells’s The Island of Doctor Moreau) and new sci-fi (such as Spike Jonze’s Her – which seems to have particularly influenced the Joaquin Phoenix-like Watson’s arc), as well as quotations and clips from Guy Debord and Marshall McLuhan, Flashing Lights is a real collage of futurisms past and present
As for the teenage Ter, alienated by technology overload, she begins a spiritual quest under the guidance of a jargon-spouting Dr. Moroe (Verdecchia) who promises to help humans "re-de-evolve" and progress by regressing to their animal selves.
With nods to old sci-fi (such as H.G. Wells's The Island of Doctor Moreau) and new sci-fi (such as Spike Jonze's Her – which seems to have particularly influenced the Joaquin Phoenix-like Watson's arc), as well as quotations and clips from Guy Debord and Marshall McLuhan, Flashing Lights is a real collage of futurisms past and present.
There are many intriguing, if recycled, ideas in the play, as well as a few really striking images – such as when Watson's face startlingly transforms into a touchscreen at one point.
Unfortunately, Flashing Lights has significant problems in tone, pacing and plot that make it a tedious evening.
Paolozza, the director, is a physical theatre guy – pursuing what he calls a "contemporary poetic theatre of gesture" – but his skills seem overwhelmed here by the technological elements of his production. It's hard to focus on bodies because of the busy-ness – and the shifts from satirical comedy to melancholy feel jarring.
Aside from the charismatic Watson's journey as Peter, Flashing Lights lacks a clear story to connect its various elements. The relationships between the characters are cliché or underdeveloped – and scenes drag on and on long after points have been made.
In short, Flashing Lights has the science down, but fails at fiction. Perhaps sci-fi has a future on the stage if a skilled playwright interested in the genre comes along – but it does not seem to be compatible with either collective creation or clowning despite a few flashes of brilliance here.
Flashing Lights (theatrecentre.org) continues to Oct. 22.