National Memory Project captures voice of an artist in two minds about AI

This circuitous two-hander set in not-so-distant Singapore is playwright Johnny Jon Jon's futile tussle with the relentless march of artificial intelligence (AI), its indisputable efficacy making counter-arguments appear trivial and moot.

- Clement Yong

THEATRE NATIONAL MEMORY PROJECT Teater Ekamatra Drama Centre Black Box June 25

The audience can almost see him arguing around himself, rehashing familiar thrust and parries ad infinitum. It is dense with ideas, incorporating also a slightly out-of-place mention of the authorities' plans to train a South-east Asia-sensitive large language model using authors' works.

Confused wrangling is par for the course for this disruptive technology. The unsatisfactory conclusion only proves the uphill battle creatives face, persuading both others and their own hearts that public policy should not merely be a numbers game.

The abstract, Escher-inspired stairs forming the set is the work of director Mohd Fared Jainal. It serves as the home base of the national AI office, prison cell and maze of civil servant Judy's (Ellison Tan) memories.

Its metaphorical gesture at the illusion of progress is clear, but also makes for a kind of theatre green screen on which bulbs are scattered. The coloured lights are at different points turned up high to overwhelm the entire stage in white, yellow and blue. It is a nifty device in scene-shifting that leans into the play's futuristic, sci-fi occupations.