Review: ANTHROPOLOGY, Hampstead Theatre

The sci-fi genre doesn’t lend itself to theatre. On a practical level there’s no room for flashy effects, aliens or CGI spaceships. When theatre does go where no man has gone before, it’s the humanity at the core that is often the focus. And that’s exactly the case with anthropology, Lauren Gunderson’s intrepid new thriller kicking off Hampstead Theatre’s Autumn season.

It is difficult to know if we should be alarmed by the fact that there is more sci than fi in anthropology. Merryl, a geeky computer scientist has programmed an AI harvesting data from her sister who is presumed dead after vanishing in mysterious circumstances.

But she is not playing at being God. She is all too human, crippled by grief she blames herself for her sister’s death. The AI is as much a coping mechanism as it is an imitation of a human being. Is it selfish? Pathetic? Are we sad or glad that she has achieved what those who suffer with grief long for: to see their loved one’s face, hear their voice, and have a conversation?

Gunderson prods and pokes around at the ethical implications but deliciously never settles for an answer. Instead she throws down the gauntlet whilst weaving together a cerebral thriller where each twist and turn tugs on the heart strings. We already know that an AI can beat us at chess and write poetry. But can it solve a murder?

With so many heavy philosophical ideas at play the piece could crumble under its own weight. But it remains steady, always propped up by strong emotional foundations. Gunderson never loses focus of the humanity: sisters, family, love and grief cosily guide the narrative.

Merryl’s endearing banter with her AI sister is uncannily touching; MyAnna Buring smiles with a toothy grin as she grips her sister’s laptop against her chest. “This is you” she chillingly proclaims explaining how she mined the data to create the program. We are swept up in her relief only to remember that it is a simulacrum designed to blur the lines between person and machine. 

Skittish and nerdy in her creased blue shirt, a deep loneliness echoes beneath Burning’s twee facade. She gently reveals fleeting glimpses of it especially when interacting with the AI, a steely voiced Dakota Blue Richards, that always just teeters on recognisably human. Her performance is even more of an accomplishment given the stark set.

Crisp and white and without the comfort of props or furniture, it evokes the futuristic, and slightly eerie, ambiance of a mid-noughties Apple advert. There is nowhere to hide but the cast skilfully fill the icy space with cosy warmth.

Some of the thrill dissipates towards the end but the questions it raises retain a pressing urgency. Unlike a lot of other plays, there really are no answers. Even the so-called Turing test, designed by Alan Turing to determine if a machine had hard artificial intelligence, is woefully obsolete today. But we are going to have to come up with some solutions soon.

anthropology plays at Hampstead Theatre until 14 October

Photo Credit: The Other Richard

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