“To act — or not to act.” That’s the query posed by the central character in Knowledge, Matthew Libby’s astonishing new play, now in its world premiere at Enviornment Stage.
That character, named Maneesh, is a considerably naïve 22-year-old, simply out of school and desperate to safe the approval of his colleagues at a big, however extremely secretive, group. His dilemma, when confronted with the potential penalties of the corporate’s work, is whether or not to reveal or settle for its secrets and techniques.
Blown away by the play — and its means to weave collectively the basic with the not-yet-happening trendy — I cornered the 29-year-old creator for a video interview, carried out from the Enviornment foyer just a few weeks earlier than I noticed the manufacturing.
Matthew Libby. Photograph courtesy of Enviornment Stage.
“It’s a fast-paced thriller set in the sleek, sunny world of Silicon Valley,” Libby started. “And it’s all concerning the darkish underbelly of this world, a little bit of a black field, controlling a lot of our lives and establishments.
“I wanted to get across the excitement of this world, to help people see why it’s so enticing, so full of idealism and wit before you get to the dark core underneath,” he added.
In reality, Libby thinks components of the play are humorous. “I feel there’s an inherent absurdity that the play will get into. There’s loads of F-bombs and loads of technical jargon, however it’s much less concerning the viewers understanding each phrase than it’s about giving an image of a world by which jargon dominates, revealing or hiding intention.
“In the end,” he added, “I think it’s meant to be an entertaining thrill ride with a lot of highfalutin’ themes baked in.”
The play focuses on 4 workers at a fictitious company referred to as Athena Applied sciences, a software program firm for information analytics. (Based on Libby, it’s loosely modeled on a real-life firm that operates in a extremely secretive method, creating software program that enables its purchasers to establish folks or traits which will have an effect on their enterprise or trade — and even, maybe, society as a complete.)
Rob Yang as Alex, Stephen Cefalu Jr. as Jonah, Isabel Van Natta as Riley, and Karan Brar as Maneesh in ‘Data.’ Photograph by T. Charles Erickson Pictures. Instagram graphic courtesy of Enviornment Stage.
The central character, Maneesh (performed by Karan Brar with a deft mixture of shyness and humor), is a superb entry-level programmer who’s promoted to a secret division on the firm. When Maneesh discovers the true nature of the undertaking, he’s confronted with a disaster of conscience.
The query Maneesh confronts is whether or not to reveal the undertaking — becoming a member of one other whistle-blower who wants his assist — or go on engaged on it, whatever the penalties.
“The project itself is a mystery,” Libby defined. Because it’s not revealed till the second half of the play, I’ll go away that for audiences to find.
Requested whether or not Maneesh is the playwright’s alter ego, Libby laughed and admitted that there have been definitely some methods by which the 2 had been related.
“I’ve been told by my parents that his speech patterns replicate mine,” he added with a wry grin.
Karan Brar (Maneesh) in ‘Data.’ Photograph by T. Charles Erickson Pictures.
Extra considerably, each the creator and his creation are graduates of Stanford College, with levels in cognitive science — which is the idea for what is thought right now as synthetic intelligence, or AI — and each are involved concerning the potential hazard of the data-mining trade.
“It’s a billion-dollar industry, and it’s been a big concern to me even before the AI boom began,” he mentioned, including that the introduction of ChatGPT — which actually set off the growth — has not solely magnified his concern however radically elevated the relevancy of the play.
Alternatively, the character is superficially fairly totally different from the creator. For one factor, Maneesh is Indian American, the son of immigrant mother and father who risked their lives to flee persecution and see their sons established in a protected new world.
Libby, alternatively, is from a well-established household, initially from Europe, and plenty of generations faraway from the refugees now arriving.
In creating the character, the playwright additionally selected to show the function the wrong way up. “So many stories about Silicon Valley are told from the point of view of the CEO, who is typically a white man who holds all the power,” he mentioned.
“Maneesh, on the other hand, is an entry-level employee. Instead of being charismatic and confident, he’s an anxious 22-year-old, just out of college and dealing with the real world for the first time.”
And as a substitute of being white, he’s an individual of coloration, a toddler of immigrants whose identification is central to the story.
Karan Brar (Maneesh) and Stephen Cefalu Jr. (Jonah) in ‘Data.’ Photograph by T. Charles Erickson Pictures.
Everybody bullies Maneesh, but he handles it with laid-back aplomb. Jonah, his entry-level buddy — and fixed ping-pong accomplice — is a belligerent, bold, however none-too-bright worker who hopes that firm loyalty will offset his lack of expertise. Performed to nice comedian impact by Stephen Cefalu Jr., he wears an organization T-shirt and an air of aggressive stupidity.
Whereas Jonah bullies with ping pong — making a syncopated beat for his arguments — Alex, a senior govt who’s Asian American, is extra sinuous. As an alternative of smashing a ball forwards and backwards with a paddle, Alex slithers round on the ground, tempting Maneesh with reminders of the hopes of their households.
Rob Yang (Alex) in ‘Data.’ Photograph by T. Charles Erickson Pictures.
Alex and Maneesh are each first-generation Individuals; they’re desperate to please their mother and father, who’ve suffered harrowing situations with a view to get their sons into the suitable colleges after which into the suitable jobs on the proper firms. Alex, performed with wily however credible allure by Rob Yang, is sensible and delicate, however an apologist ultimately. (His is the voice of the final word company or authorities excuse: “If we don’t do it, someone else will.”)
Essentially the most sympathetic of the co-workers — and thus probably the most persuasive — is Riley, the lone feminine within the group, who knew Maneesh at Stanford. It’s Riley who is aware of concerning the new algorithm that Maneesh has found, and who makes use of that data to attempt to propel him into appearing on her facet. Isabel Van Natta brings a mixture of idealism and affinity to the function that’s extremely seductive.
Isabel Van Natta (Riley) and Karan Brar (Maneesh) in ‘Data.’ Photograph by T. Charles Erickson Pictures.
The story is informed in a collection of rapid-fire scenes, separated by screeching sounds and light-weight results bordering the stage. The shadows solid upon the partitions are stark and threatening, stemming from the lighting design (by Amith Chandrashaker) and the extraordinary set (by Marsha Ginsberg), which seems like the within of a corrugated metallic field.
A lot of the credit score for the taut pacing of the present is because of its director, Margot Bordelon. Referred to as in on the final minute, to exchange somebody who had a scheduling battle, she turned out to be the right selection.
“Margot and I have known each other for years,” Libby mentioned. “She knew the play, she knew me, and she’d worked at Arena. We even have the same agent!” He shook his head in amazement.
“It was a perfect solution. She agreed to do it in just 72 hours.”
Turning again to the topic of information mining and AI, Libby mused over the query of whether or not the mind is actually a pc.
“Even before the AI boom, we were asking what it means to be human in an increasingly technological world,” he defined. “Ask yourself, What does social media mean? What is smart about a smartphone?”
“Those questions are inherently dramatic,” he added.
“What’s fascinating is that this play predates the AI growth. I began writing it six years in the past, in 2018, at a time when the play had a type of five-minutes-into-the-future bent. However now that AI is right here, it’s 5 minutes after the occasion.
“That’s because the technology described in the play actually exists. The use to which it’s put — which becomes the mystery at the center of the play — doesn’t exist yet, but it probably could!”
In reality, each time he went again to the play, usually after a break of only some months, he discovered that what he thought was the longer term was actually the current or the previous.
“The question was, How do you write something that feels like it’s current but is probably going to be out of date by the time the play actually opens?” he requested.
The answer, for Libby, was to take a look at the philosophical and ethical questions that underlie the story. In different phrases, “To act, or not to act…”
The primary cause that the play is related right now, he added, is that it seems on the situation of AI from each a human perspective and a political one.
The political query is paramount. For Libby, the largest concern about AI is how the legacy establishments — such because the U.S. authorities and its regulation enforcement companies — will use AI as a instrument.
“There are a lot of methods by which the proliferation of information can be utilized to foretell or streamline human habits, and that’s a very good factor. The issue, for me, is when these items are accomplished in secret.
“The technologies themselves have no inherent value, good or bad. But there’s an incredible amount of data out there, about every single one of us, regardless of whether we’ve opted in or out. And once the information is out there, as the saying goes, there’s no putting the genie back in the bottle.”
Surprised, I requested, “Is there anything that cannot be touched by an algorithm?”
“That’s a very relevant question right now,” he responded, “each for us personally, as people, and politically, as a rustic.
“There’s some scary stuff that a president could do, using this technology,” he warned.
“Are you saying that these tools can either illuminate or destroy?” I requested.
“Yes,” he answered, “Yes, I think the data created by AI can be tools of abundance and illumination, but they can also be tools of oppression. They can be used to make people’s lives better. And they can be used to make people’s lives worse. It really has everything to do with the intention behind them.”
What ought to audiences count on once they see Knowledge?
“Backside line, it’s a thriller. And it’s obtained loads of quick dialogue, which younger folks like. Younger folks, greater than others, have an actual sense of the ability they’ve — the ability to look behind the scenes and see a world that basically doesn’t need folks peering in.
“There’s a lot of Gen Z anxiety in the play,” he added.
At 29, Libby just isn’t a lot older than the main characters. And though he’s received dozens of awards for performs offered at school readings and workshops, Knowledge is one in every of his first performs to be professionally produced. (One other, Sisters — written later than Knowledge however mounted just a few weeks earlier, at Northern Stage in Vermont — can also be about AI and its penalties.
“Data was originally supposed to have had its world premiere three years ago, but it was canceled due to the pandemic. So it’s been a long time coming,” he mentioned ruefully. However he’s thrilled now to have it at Enviornment, with an extended run than most new performs are given.
We’re thrilled, too, since that’s slightly over three weeks extra by which to see it.
Knowledge performs by December 15, 2024, within the Kogod Cradle at Enviornment Stage, 1101 sixth Road SW, Washington, DC. Tickets ($75–$149) could also be obtained on-line, by telephone at 202-488-3300, or in particular person on the Gross sales Workplace (Tuesday-Sunday, 12-8 p.m.). Enviornment Stage presents financial savings packages together with “pay your age” tickets for these aged 35 and underneath, scholar reductions, and “Southwest Nights” for these residing and dealing within the District’s Southwest neighborhood. To study extra, go to arenastage.org/savings-programs.
Working Time: Roughly one hour and 40 minutes, with no intermission.
This system for Knowledge is on-line right here.
COVID Security: Enviornment Stage recommends however doesn’t require that patrons put on facial masks in theaters besides in designated mask-required performances (December 1 at 7:30 p.m.). For up-to-date data, go to arenastage.org/security.
SEE ALSO:Driving new drama ‘Data’ at Enviornment Stage digs into ethics of massive tech (evaluate by Bob Ashby, November 10, 2024)
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