With all the current fears surrounding artificial intelligence, it was certainly refreshing to see an inventively lighthearted and fun take on the impending doom that many of us feel is either here or on its way regarding the state of A.I. Whilst not offering a truly prophetic insight into what may become of it in relation to humanity, it certainly scratches the surface of this topic and does so while providing nonstop laughs and catchy songs directed by Victoria Klipova.
The cast all brought a unique energy to this piece and constructed their characters in almost cartoonish ways, helping the performances stick in your mind long after watching it. Major props go to the protagonist Steve, played by Patrick Kelly, who had a great leading man quality and perfectly bounced off the rest of the cast. Although, I do have to say the two dancers, Ian F Green and Emma Clandon, stole the show and added a much-needed exuberance throughout the musical numbers, which may have been a little lackluster without it. The musical numbers themselves, written by Igor Labutin, were staged in an engaging fashion and served to move the story along in fulfilling ways. The songs were catchy, although, without microphones, it was hard to make out a lot of lyrics, even from the second row. I won’t spoil the final scene; however, it had me laughing a lot, and although it didn’t serve as a satisfying end to the story, it still had me leaving the show with a smile on my face.
The set relied heavily on images and videos being projected onto a screen behind the actors, which at moments greatly served the story and at other times diminished the overall performance, as there were some delays in a few of the videos playing. This didn’t ruin the show for me; I just would have liked it to be smoother, especially seeing as the whole point of the show is how advanced and scary technology is. The commentary on technology and A.I. was quite surface level; however, seeing as the show embraces the comedy more so than the drama, this didn’t ruin the story or my enjoyment of the characters at all.
For a fun, original musical, this accomplishes everything it could, and although it might not add anything new to the conversation surrounding A.I., it certainly entertains.
Reviewer: Joe Lang
Reviewed: 15th August 2025
North West End UK Rating: