REVIEW: Doctor Moloch (Flying V)
What's that show about the intelligent robot who seeks connection and feeling in their life (?) in the face of an imminent shutdown, creating a fragile emotional fulcrum that sets the plot in motion?
No, not Maybe Happy Ending. We're talking Doctor Moloch by Carla Milarch, the latest sci-fi parable out of Silver Spring's storied Flying V theatre company. But they're thematically similar; just in opposite directions. If Ending had you weepy and optimistic about the thralls of human connection, you may just leave Moloch as frightened and anxious about AI as you've ever been, no thanks to a commanding performance from James Finley.
Book
Moloch, in the Book of Leviticus, is a Canaanite concept known for the practice of grave sacrifice -- usually a child -- and plays a not-insignificant role in early Jewish, and later Christian, taboos.
Surely one wouldn't want a doctor with that association, right? Unless you've forgotten it. Which, in the very near future of Doctor Moloch, would be only one of many things not coming to mind as once did. In the late 2020's, a Silicon Valley oligarch creates the world's first AI doctor, a humanoid with quantum thought powers that make it the smartest "thing" on Earth. But his bedside manner could use some work. His inventor, Mo, is your classically grindy, self-obsessed "bro"-overuser, so it's not like he has any feelings to spare. Serena Blaise, a fading Hollywood actress, is then summoned in a last-ditch effort to teach the bot some empathy. The scene then mostly shifts to a philosophical two-hander -- which it probably is best at, as it lets Serena dwell a little more on her own experiences facing the future of AI with the remnants of her past. Instead, Bo does chime in periodically to shove the story along with external context, but I found the experience better when he is unseen. There's technically a fourth character, a souped-up Alexa (the Amazon kind), who is suprisingly engaging and vivid. Yet she tends to remind us just how mentally insolvent Bo is, and how unrealized Serena is. This juxtaposition between the two human characters and the two AIs can be a smart choice, but the book, especially in its higher-stakes second act, leaves our taxonomic compatriots in the dust. 5/10
Acting
Finley is the strongest performance in the role of the titular doctor, threading the needle of emotive and heartless so carefully you wonder over the actor's offstage humanity. Comparatively, I found the performances by Nhea Durousseau and Andrew Chi less captivating, particularly ironic given the former's backstory as an actress. The performance is emotively complex, but the stage presence lacked the range given by her character. 6/10
Production
The staging by Dom Ocampo is sparse but allows Madeleine Regina's direction to shine. The motif of the "death cup" is cheeky and fun, and the hexagons spark to life in gorgeous ways thanks to Malory Hartman's sharp lighting designs. The monotony of Nyasha Klusmann's costumes is broken up by good use of texture that gives each character a specific personality. 7/10
Viz
An eerie simplicity silences the black box from its raucus lobby. Hexagons dominate the set, with a soft spotlight glowing a singular platform from above. flanking it are hexagonal synapses, a clever bridge between the motifs of tact and tech. Yet the rougher material of the boards does evoke a competing naturalism that doesn't quite fit the squeaky-clean lab environment that we open into. But it's hard to nitpick that when you take a look at their warm, hallowed key art, featuring splashes of vibrance like a very early fiml poster. 7/10
Verdict
Doctor Moloch is an edgy fable on the evolution of AI whose commentary feels deflated at times, but stylish design and performances keep it alive. 25/40
