Robots on stage

[Pip]

The Future is here!

Being an Ibsen fan, this production caught my eye. From http://www.lesfreres.org/heddatron/

With Heddatron, Les Freres Corbusier continues its irreverent massacre of historical icons and academic esoterica by taking on famed playwright Henrik Ibsen, the well-made play, and contemporary issues in robotics. Ibsen is thwarted by August Strindberg and his kitchen slut throughout his fevered struggle to write the great feminist drama, Hedda Gabler, while a contemporary housewife in Michigan is abducted by robots and forced to perform Ibsen's masterpiece over and over again...

With real functioning robots portraying half of the parts, alongside humans who will play the other half, Heddatron will be one of the first theatrical productions to use functional robots as actors. Employing robotic automation and text-to-speech software, humans will perform opposite a hunky Lovborg-bot, a clunky Tessman-bot, as well as blinking, smoking, and whirring co-stars who portray Judge Brack, Aunt Julie, and the rest of Ibsen's menagerie.

You know, I've been a bit dissapointed with the twenty-first century so far - no flying cars, no cheap holiday flights to Mars, no food pills, no space aliens, no unisex silver spandex overalls (okay, I can live without those) and the robots have been dissapointing so far. But this is more like it.
SF literature and movies have discussed the issues of robot-human relations for almost a century now, it's about time theatre does it as well. I don't know if I'm being silly, but this actually makes the concept of actual robots actually existing more real to me than video clips of Asimo performing amazing stunts like Walking! and Shaking Hands!

Now, where's that flying DeLorean?

[ngdawg]

I grew up in the era of Robby the Robot (Danger, Will Robinson!) and Rosie, the robot maid on the Jetsons. I'm surprised it took so long to get them on stage. But they will never replace people, no matter how close to live they'd appear.

[TexanAvenger]

As soon as something goes wrong, the show's shot. The robots can't adlib or cover like a person does if the timing is off or a mistake happens.

It's an interesting idea but robots are made for efficiency, not performance art.

[hulk]

First the stage, then the world, judging by the above responses

I'd assume said robots would have a factor of human control?

[Crack]

I, for one, welcome our new thespian robot overlords! Let the reccord show.

[fresnelly]

I've always wanted to do a show using an automated fixture (they're the ones you see swirling around at concerts and on TV) as a puppet and a character.

If only I could come up with a story.

[Jack1.0]

The real question is "Are the robots getting standard SAG wages?"
(actually they wouldn't apply to a stage show, but I just wanted to say that

[AquaFox]

thats pretty awesome.



reminds me of the presidential display at Disney World Florida, and some of the other robotic people they have.

[carrot glace]

will they be as loud and obnoxious as those robots at chuck'e cheese? if they are then, kids would LOVE it.

[Bill O'Rights]

Originally Posted by carrot glace

will they be as loud and obnoxious as those robots at chuck'e cheese? if they are then, kids would LOVE it.

Yeah. My first thought was "Didn't Showbiz Pizza, and Chuck E. Cheese's, already do this?"

[Toaster126]

Originally Posted by Bill O'Rights

Yeah. My first thought was "Didn't Showbiz Pizza, and Chuck E. Cheese's, already do this?"

Ditto. Boy were those awful... even as a kid, I was like umm, wtf?

[Astrocloud]

Sounds like that author is a fan of Kraftwerk.

[Kadath]

In The Future, There Will Be Robots!

I want to know who's playing the manatee.

[FancyPants]

The only real question is...do they dance?

But seriously I'd go and see them if they were around here, sounds like fun and a different experience.