[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of the Group Rep’s The Ghee Ghee Pik written by Suzy London, directed by Kathleen R. Delaney and produced for The Group Rep by Lloyd Pedersen.
We can always count on the Group Rep to bring new and intriguing plays to our neighborhood. The Ghee Ghee Pik is another in a long line of innovative and compelling work with stories that push the boundaries of our world.
The story revolves around Margaret, a woman who has suffered her entire life with debilitating seizures. She is offered the chance to live a normal life with an experimental AI implant in her brain. It would basically rewire her brain and possibly prevent her from having seizures ever again. This revolutionary implant would be monitored by the company who designed it and remain their property. But such a miracle offered to a person who has never been able to have a normal life and who is completely reliant on her aging mother, well you can imagine how tempting it would be.
But immediately after the procedure, as Margaret explores her new life without seizures, the doctors begin to notice some disturbing and unplanned effects of the AI implant. Margaret is not only without pain and seizures, she is smarter, and is referring to her AI implant as another entity within her. Her personality changes from sweet and nurturing to brittle and cold. There were other patients who took the treatment after Margaret’s was so successful and one by one they begin to experience adverse side effects as the AI rewires their brains. In the end, it becomes a choice between who they were before, disabilities and all, and who they have become.
The Ghee Ghee Pik, inspired by actual events, is a really fascinating foray into the future of medicine and the present state of our AI dependence. AI is absolutely everywhere already. In our phones of course. But also in our computers, our news, our marketing, our stories and pretty soon in our films and TV. Implants have been used to ease pain and improve mobility for years, but this is different. When an implant has intelligence and a mind of its own what will it do to ours? And what are we willing to sacrifice to feel better?
The performances are really excellent in this brilliant and perceptive play. As the pressure builds so does the feeling that we are all already in this…we just don’t know it yet. Matrix anyone??
If you need some more convincing to see this show then google AI and scare the pants off yourself! Bravo GRT!!!
Where:
The Lonny Chapman Theatre
10900 Burbank Blvd., NoHo Arts District, CA 91601
When:
June 13 – July 14
Saturdays at 4pm, Thursdays and Sundays at 7pm
Talkback Sundays with author and staff 6/16 & 6/23
Tickets:
The Cast
The cast features the talents of Diana Angelina (Barbara Kelly), Davino Buzzotta (Trevor Dickson), Mandy Fason (Margaret Kelly), Doug Haverty (Joel Mackston), Cierra Lundy (Angela Donaldson), Jason Madera (Dr. Bennett Kenilworth), Kevin Michael Moran (Kendrick Gold, Esq.), Helen O’Brien (Roberta Link, Esq.), Stevie Stern (Dr. Jennifer Atchison) and Cathy Diane Tomlin (Honorable Judge Dana Smythe).
The Team
The production team includes Suzy London (Playwright), Kathleen R. Delaney (Director), Cathy Diane Tomlin (Assistant Director), Lloyd Pedersen (Producer), Sam Logan (Assistant to Producer), John Ledley (Stage Manager), Nick Foran (Lighting Design), Doug Haverty (Graphic Design/Projections), Dan O’Connell (Sound Design & Effects), Mikaela Padilla (Sound Consultant), Mikel Parraga-Wills (Sound Design Assistant), Kristin Stancato (Webmaster/Online Marketing), Denise Downer (Marketing) and Jackie Hearn (Social Media).