Disruption at Park Theatre, review

A web of characters are woven together by a dubious algorithm in this Nathaniel Curtis-starring play, writes Miriam Balanescu

In Jack DePalma’s Disruption, a trio of New Yorkian couples are introduced who all revolve around one shadowy figure at the play’s epicentre – Nick. In the time that the friends have been apart, Nick (together with Raven, a strangely curt and bossy maths prodigy) has been off developing an algorithm which promises to solve all of life’s problems. The catch – he needs some guinea pigs on which to test out this grand new technology.

Gathering his friends – all Harvard graduates – to let them in on the secret, little do they know that they are about to become Nick and Raven’s test subjects. The algorithm, Raven says, amalgamates data so it can help anyone make a key life decision when they’re at “a fork in the road”. Raven’s pointed comments over dinner make it clear that the dubious duo have access to their friends’ phones, laptops and devices – and, as it eventually unfolds, their bank accounts, social accounts and more. As Raven reveals to Nick that she has hopes for the algorithm to not just steer humanity but meddle with people’s lives further by “curating coincidence”, it becomes unclear what the pair’s true aims are: do they just want to control people, or do they really want to make people’s lives better?

This clever production is packed with humour and interesting set design: Matrix-like green codes glimmer across the stage; a box above the stage releases a cascade of toys. Odd names for the acts, like “bake cookies anywhere”, are projected onto a screen, while the writing itself can be heavy-handed with its artificial intelligence (AI) subject matter and themes of free will. The cast are also enlisted in sometimes overelaborate choreography, including a rain dance, which feels more like a distraction more than theatrical exposition.

It’s a Sin actor Nathaniel Curtis offers an admirable performance, but really he is outshone by his character’s wife, played by Debbie Korley, whose onstage charisma feels uncontainable. In Disruption, however, it’s really brilliant performances all round by the cast.

There’s no question that this AI play is timely – but it can sometimes feel unsophisticated in its assumption of dread about its consequences. Perhaps the real fault of Disruption is that it isn’t long enough to get stuck into this potentially terrifying new world.

Disruption runs at Park Theatre until 5th August.

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