DETAILS

i-ROBOT Unplugged presented by Swallow-a-Bicycle Theatre
John Snow House
Friday, October 21 - Saturday, October 22

More in: Theatre

It’s been quite a saga for Swallow-a-Bicycle Theatre’s i-ROBOT Theatre. The original production was set to open in May 2010 in the old fish market in the East Village, a 10,000-square-foot warehouse space. Because the company specializes in site-specific theatre, they were trying to use as much of the floor space as possible.

“In the first space, there were no scene changes,” says the show’s producer, Mark Hopkins. “The audience walked from one room to the next in terms of the scene change.”

Just prior to opening night, the fire inspector deemed the space unsafe for the performance, so when the play finally opened in June at the intimate Birds and Stone Theatre, scenes that added to the flavour and atmosphere (but not the plot) of the production had to be cut.

That’s not the end of the story, however. The nixed scenes were so well-loved by the company that they just couldn’t bear to let them die. So, Swallow-a-Bicycle has taken its roster of robots and installed them in the 100-year-old John Snow House in Lower Mount Royal — creating a unique theatre experience.

i-ROBOT Unplugged will present nine self-contained scenes, concurrently, in different rooms (from basement to bedroom to bathroom), encouraging audience members to explore the scenes at their own pace.

“It’ll be different from your typical theatre experience but still with really top-notch actors and still seeing some really cool performances,” says Hopkins.

Based on Jason Christie’s i-ROBOT Poetry, Swallow-a-Bicycle’s show deals with “very deep concepts and crazy toasters.”

“It’s not just about robots, it’s about humanity,” says Hopkins. “If feeling, thoughts and agency are what make us human, what happens when you have a machine that does the same thing?”

The scenes take place in two general areas. One area explores the way humans interact with the robots that share their world, and the other takes you into a robot insane asylum. Each scene is between five and seven minutes long and has a complete story arc. So while Unplugged will be rewarding for those who saw the production in June, newbies won’t have trouble understanding what’s going on.

“It’s impressionistic because you’re going to be able to drop into someone’s world and then pop out of it,” says Hopkins. “You’re not going to get a story, you’re not going to get a single character you fall in love with — but hopefully you’ll get 10.”