REVIEW: Your Name Means Dream (Theater J)
It only makes sense that as we barrel towards a technocratic inferno, our media begins to reflect it. This isn’t a new phenomenon, obviously, but it does feel more and more relevant these days. Who can forget OpenAI’s suspiciously realistic voice-responding ChatGPT? (I try to.) Theater J takes the reins for their exploration of it in Jose Rivera’s self-directed two-hander, Your Name Means Dream.
Book
In a near-future New York, Aislin is an elderly mother who lives alone when one day, an android assistant known as “Stacy” arrives at the behest of her distant son. She starts off rocky and ineffective, but as the play progresses, she develops more of a personality and loosens up. Rivera then explores the blossoming friendship between woman and machine, and though it doesn’t carry us too far into uncharted waters, the dialogue is snappy enough to keep things moving. The characters are particularly well-developed, especially in Act II when the stakes become more grounded and humanistic, and both Aislin and Stacy are well-realized participants in their world — that of which is the play’s least effective device. There’s interludes of in-universe contemporary news in which a populist anti-android group commits acts of violence and some robots get elected to parliament elsewhere. However interesting these tidbits of worldbuilding are, they just feel like they’re "there for fun” and not directly impactful the minds of the characters. 7/10
Acting
Stupendous acting out the door defines this production. Naomi Jacobson’s Aislin is a crotchety, shuddering mess to begin things, but even as she softens over the course of the show, her highs and lows remains understandably vivid. Even outside of her self-expression, she has tremendous chemistry with Sara Koviak, who demonstrates stunning skill in her role as Stacy, the robotic companion. Initially, and scarily, rigid, she “updates” periodically with bubbly expressions, and feels logged-in the entire show; it’s as if you can watch the software installation in real time. (She also doubles up as Aislin’s deadbeat son via her virtual calling capabilities.) This culminates in a breathtaking climax in Act II, which showcases Koviak’s sublime choreography in a physically complex, glitchy spectacle that had the entire audience out of breath just watching it. 9/10
Production
The action is set in Aislin’s middle-class New York apartment, with brief off-stage kitchen and bathroom scenes. Misha Kachman is known for his set designs full of minutae and this is no exception; the flat is full of detail that cleverly piece together her shabby lifestyle that causes Stacy to arrive in the first place. As the action picks up, a tandem of intuitively techy sound design (David Remedios) and lighting (Alberto Segarra) jolt things alive.8/10
Viz
Though the show’s title is ambiguous, the key art involving a iridescent arm reaching out Adam-style to the human one is a gorgeous design that frames the plot very well. Additionally, it probes further questions as the scrum shows a cluttered, very human apartment. 8/10
Verdict
Your Name Means Dream is a crisp woman v. machine two-hander that has its superb leads elevate a decent book. 32/40
