Review: COURTNEY PAUROSO: VANESSA 5000, Soho Theatre

From the second she steps on stage, Courtney Pauroso becomes Vanessa 5000, a sex robot here to display her abilities to us at a tech expo. Dressed in black latex and wearing insanely high heels, Vanessa toddles onto the stage, her eyes wide and expressionless. She is the very picture of an animatronic, swaying back and forth when stopping and even using a Siri-like voice. Pauroso is a brilliant physical comedian who has the audience in the palm of her hand to the point she can fall into the audience and they will catch her without question.

Audience interaction is essential in Vanessa 5000, and no one is safe. When Vanessa asks if the audience wants the show to continue by saying “woo,” she responds “I’m sorry, I didn’t quite get that” and has the audience make org*smic noises several times throughout the show. Vanessa picks on men in the audience, “anal-lyzing” their data to figure out what their fantasies and desires are. These include some hilarious impressions, a situation between a stepmom and her stepson, and even a reading from Theodore Kaczynski’s book, Industrial Society and Its Future (if you know, you know). One particular audience member, Scott, needed encouragement from the audience to get on stage but ended up becoming one of the highlights of the show. 

Vanessa 5000 focuses on the concept of AI and tackles issues like consent and the humanity behind robots. Indeed, as Vanessa, Pauroso begins to malfunction and starts questioning her own purpose in life instead of simply existing to please men with her programming. Cracks begin to appear in the “perfect” facade Vanessa puts on, both mentally and literally as her wig flies off and she begins to start speaking her mind. 

The show felt like it had several different endings, which was a bit of a disappointment in comparison to the seamless beginning and middle of the show. Vanessa, now upgraded to Vanessa 6000, goes into what she refers to as “goblin mode” and chaos erupts. I won’t go into spoilers, but it is definitely a different tone than the rest of the show, 

Ultimately, Courtney Pauroso: Vanessa 5000 is a fun and thought-provoking show that gives Pauroso the chance to show off her incredible clowning abilities. Vanessa gives the audience a look into what may happen in the future as the line between AI and humanity blurs, forcing us to choose what we will do with the technology we are given.

Courtney Pauroso: Vanessa 5000 runs at the Soho Theatre, Soho Upstairs from 30 August to 16 September at 22:30 with a runtime of 60 minutes

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