The Chemistry Test is a new play written by Jack Cray. It appears that the play discusses the relationship between two robots, but it is in fact a discussion of human relationships as well.
The main characters of the story are Steve and Evie, two artificial intelligences. They are given a very significant task, which is to help humans reframe the meaning of love. Before they can go to Earth to carry out this mission, they need to pass a test which requires them to be judged as a normal couple. Unlike many works, the two of them only have a setting in which they need to love each other, but the programme doesn't give them a picture of what the two have been through together and why they have developed the feelings they have. So Steve and Evie are left to figure out what loving each other looks like on their own. Together, they watch movies, imagine the scenario of them meeting for the first time, and have a party for just the two of them...During the process, some fond emotions arise, as well as serious fights. But the story doesn't stop there.
The design of the stage is not overly complicated, and everything on the stage is useful for the characters: two chairs, cabinets with books and disks, a table with a tea set... Not only the stage itself, but the entire space of the performance is fully utilised. From time to time the actors would move between the audience, to the bar at the back of the auditorium, and even the doors in and out of the theatre are used as part of the stage.
Jack Cray (as Steve) and Hannah Adams (as Evie) performed in a style with a relaxed and natural sense of atmosphere, and it was evident that there was a high level of trust between the two. They both focused on showing non-human behaviours when they needed to show features that clearly belonged to the artificial intelligence: for example, when they were taken from being switched off to being activated, when they were somehow frozen, and when they were overloaded with too much information. However, in some moments of everyday communication, their behavioural patterns were more like ordinary humans than artificial intelligence.
In addition to the interaction between the two actors, there is a great deal of interaction with the audience applied in the play. The actors would randomly call one or two audience members to the stage at different moments during the show to participate in their test. Sometimes, it was to help fill in the pieces of the backstory they were weaving, some of the time it was as a crew member, or even as a visitor to them. In the process, interesting sparks were born out of these improvisations. However, in terms of storytelling plausibility, Steve and Evie are most likely alone in a confined space for their tests, and the inclusion of the audience in this setting may be somewhat contradictory to the context of the story.
Overall, the discussions made in The Chemistry Test are interesting and entertaining, and the lightheartedness that the production carries gives the audience a very welcoming feeling. However, its discussions do not reach as deep as the topic could have arrived at, and the characters are somewhat flat, leaving the show to end in mostly just playfulness. The reversal at the end also seems a bit sudden rather than necessary.
At the moment, The Chemistry Test is more of a light-hearted chuckle, and there are still a few steps to go before it fully reveals the potential that the subject matter holds.
The Chemistry Test runs at Stage Door Theatre until 26th October 2024. For more information and tickets, you can follow the link here.
⭐️⭐️ (2*)
Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | photography by Jules Porter
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