By Michael West Directed by James Macdonald With Carson Elrod, Sue Jean Kim, Brían F. O’Byrne, Laila Robins, Elliot Trainor
World Premiere
Obie Award-winner James Macdonald directs this sci-fi comedy thriller by Irish playwright Michael West. A visionary in the field of artificial intelligence, Frank (Brían F. O’Byrne) has built a humandroid to preserve his wife Lily’s (Laila Robins) memory — because she is losing hers. But when he is ousted from the company he founded, he must race to save his life’s work. As Frank scrambles to protect his property, his legacy and the technology he invented, the play examines how far we will go to preserve what we love.
The Chinese Room runs 2 hours and 20 minutes with a 15-minute intermission.