Ibsen’s “Hedda Gabler” with robots. That’s “Heddatron,” at Lafayette College, inspired by the plays of Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg.
The stage in the black box Weiss Theater at Buck Hall has a couch at one end, a table at the other, and another small stage on a raised platform.“Heddatron” begins as a video on six television sets placed above the stage, as a professor type says that robots are beginning to find self awareness. Throughout the play at various points the young Nugget Gordon (Emma Weaver) talks about Ibsen and his play “Hedda Gabler,” using visual aids.
Downstairs at the table Nugget’s father Rick (Evan Poe) and his brother Cubby (Liam Heino) are talking to a camera held by a film student (Henry Ficcadenti). They hope to sell a video about the abduction of Rick’s wife Jane (Paris Doherty) by robots.The action switches between them, the raised stage, and Jane. Up above, Henrik Ibsen (Kyle Faluka) is being henpecked by his wife (Emma Kay Krebs). Jane sits on the couch (in a different place and/or time so her family do not see her). Two robots visit her and declare their love.Eventually downstairs, Rick and Cubby set out to rescue Jane from the robot forest. Above, Ibsen is visited by playwright August Strindberg (Jeffrey Alexander), who becomes intimate with the Ibsen’s “kitchen slut” Else (Milena Berestko). The robots are the stars of this hour and a half play, written by Elizabeth Meriwether, directed by Michael O’Neill, with robots designed and built by Jeffrey Helm. They are played by Stone Schloss, C.J. Silverman, Morgan Limmer, Eleanor Williams, and Finian Williams. Featuring bright LED lights. they vary in design from humanoid to one with a teakettle for a head and ironing boards for sides. From a platform above and to the side of the stage, the actors control the robots and speak their lines. As the play progresses, it veers farther from reality, with scenes that are more and more outlandish. At points, the cast sings to “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” “For Once in My Life,” and a song by Shaggy. In a climatic scene, the robots force Jane to read from “Hedda Gabler.” At the end, the narrator on the televisions intones that the robots don’t want to be understood, and that they have gotten out of control. This is much like “Heddatron” itself. Great robots, though. “Heddatron,” March 1 at 2 pm, March 5-7 at 7:30 pm, Lafayette College, Weiss Theater, Buck Hall, 219 North 3rd Street, Easton, PA 18042.
For information,https://theater.lafayette.edu/heddatron-2/, or call 610-330-3311.