Camden Fringe 2024
Prototype
Steph Darcey
Genre: Comedy, One Person Show, Theatre
Venue: Old Red Lion
Festival: Camden Fringe
Low Down
A play that makes a mockery of current politics. This play humorously shows the dangers of AI. Very funny yet also poignant.
Review
A comic, one-person show exploring politics and AI, starring Steph Darcey.
We are introduced to ‘AMEXA’, the robot AI that looks human and runs to be a politician. After a successful meeting, AMEXA is bought and used for politics. We follow AMEXA on her rise to power. She is programmed to say certain phrases such as “My father was a toolmaker and my mother was a GP” to seem relatable and she’s given learning capabilities to mingle more with humans.
AMEXA’s story takes us on a journey from political debates, to celebrity shows to handsy MPs; we see the satirical life of a British politician. It’s a whirlwind of a story and one that keeps you intrigued.
The play mocks current politics, without taking a side; showing the whole thing as a farce. There were lots of clever gags or digs at current politicians with references to celebrity shows and MPs trying to be relatable but failing. Replacements of party names such as the “Perform” party, the “Preservative” party and the “Flavour” party were amusing and there was fun audience participation. At one point, an audience member was given a script to perform with Darcey and I was given an Xbox controller to move AMEXA.
This play takes a serious matter of AI taking over and showers it with humour, showing AI to be a silly thing that could never take over. Towards the end of the play, as AMEXA grows further into power, we are left questioning if this play could be our future.
The Acting from Darcey is first class. She maintained a strong focus throughout and distinctly differentiated all of the characters from each other. From the vocal quality, to the resonance, to her movements, her character creation was considered and impressive. Her concentration and precision for every character and every moment was excellent. If an actor doesn’t maintain these two aspects for a one-person show, we see it, and I didn’t see her lose focus once.
The space was used creatively, from the prop-table onstage, to the backstage area, to when she integrated herself into the audience to make us The House of Commons.
Although the theme was about AI taking over, along with the dire state of British ministers, this play also highlighted sexual assault in politics. Doing it in a funny way that also felt poignant.
This is a highly recommended show due to the concurrent humour that is genuinely funny and the strong theme that sits with you afterwards. The script is well executed by Darcey and her performance is entertaining.
To be a ‘Must See Show’, the first half of the play needs to be as engaging as the second half. The beginning of the play built up well and without that work, the second half wouldn’t have been as enjoyable. However, I did find myself slightly disengaged at a few points in the beginning and wonder if this could be tweaked to make it as enjoyable as the latter half of the play.
A satirical, clever comedy about AI and politics. This is a play that will make you laugh and make you think.
