Theatre | The Guardian: A figure sits alone on stage, dressed in comfy jumper and trousers, one leg crossed over the other. He slowly moves his hands and turns his head. But this sole performer in Uncanny Valley, by theatre company Rimini Protokoll, is not human. It is a lifelike animatronic model of the German writer Thomas Melle.
5 comments:
31. I remember when I was in the fourth grade, I did a engineering program at Disney World. I saw animatronics for the first time close up. They were a part of the Hall of Presidents show, and we were able to see the mechanics and maintenance that occurs. I was interested, but a little weirded out. I had a similar response when I went to the AI Makerspace in Tepper. I think robots and artificial Intelligence, despite the robot from the article not being AI, I believe they are very useful in our industry. I automatically began considering uses for robots in theater, when I met Pepper one of the Tepper robots. I personally do not understand the way they function, and I am pretty interested in learning more. I was just saying that I wanted to start going to the office hours in the Makerspace to learn more.
I think that the intersection of modern technology and the theatre industry is ever changing and becoming more fascinating. There is a strange aspect of tradition and antiquity in theatre which is why I think that when newer technology is introduced to the art it is a revolution. Also there is something inherently human about theatre, because if you can never give the exact same performance twice, there will always be little human errors in every single aspect of a show. This is why a robot show seems so scary. Also in the media, we are really taught to fear robots, because despite humans being the ones that make them, we fear something that could be smarter or better than the human race. But like some of the creators of Uncanny Valley said, the machine that they were working with wasn’t really that smart. While animatronics are really cool, I don’t think people, myself included, are quite ready to embrace their role in theatre.
I really must say that the animatronic of German writer Thomas Melle starring in the play “Uncanny Valley” is quite an unsettling figure. It is a very interesting idea to attempt to make the only actor in a show a robot; but I really think that the imitation of human behavior is always going to be somewhat unsettling, intentional or not. The mind and movement of a human is truly near impossible to be replicated. I have seen some animatronics and robots developed with extremely advanced technology to come very close, but the way that humans act is so dynamic and unique that something as rigid and mechanical as an animatronic just won’t be able to replicate exactly. Additionally, I think modern day pop culture and media has created a very ominous and creepy association with animatronics; popular video games and movies have contributed to the narrative that this subhuman creation can be dangerous and is not to be trusted.
Animatronics used in theater is such a debatable topic. Though there has been robotics in performances before, having it be a one man show is interesting as it brings up the question of whether it is real theater. There is no real acting, as said in the article: it's not artificial intelligence it is a "dumb machine". Something that is preprogramed in this way is a cool design, but I would not consider it acting. It brings up the question if this is then theater because there is no actors, or if it is a form of exhibit. I was surprised that the article did not bring this up in depth, but nevertheless I really enjoyed the information involved in the article. Not only did it describe the process of using an animatronic, but it took a deep dive into the history of robots and other works that were the predecessors of Thomas Melle's animatronic in Uncanny Valley.
I think my favorite part of their robot from the very first image we see is the geras that are sticking out from its head. We know that the creators want to remind us of what is actually going on onstage, their goal is not to create a perfect imitation of life because we can see the mechanical workings of the robot's mind on display for the course of the entire show. This must have been a huge undertaking to complete, building a robot that speaks and resembles a human, not perfect but still to the extent needed for a show like this feels like no easy task, but I find myself excited that as an industry theatre is moving to be able to do all of this. There are and will be shows where very niche design skills or skill sets can be learned and developed, and would definitely like to be on one or two of these shows.
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