written by David Largman Murray
directed by Steve Moulds
June 12 – 27, 2009
People’s Center Theater
It is the year 6000. All organic life has been destroyed except for a handful of humans. The world is ruled by ultra-sexy Robots who are mysterious, immortal, and ultra-sexy. Humans want to be like them, and this is sad. Some humans dress up like Robots, and some humans would give anything to become one. Half twisted comedy and half science-fiction fantasia, this new play is filled with desire, betrayal and ultra-sexy Robot dance.
Cast
Production Team
| joe | John Catron | director | Steve Moulds |
| sammy | Lindsay Marcy | set | Andrea Heilman |
| kneepad | Nathan Surprenant | costumes | Andrea M. Gross |
| garlic press | Jennifer Phillips | lighting | Peter W. Mitchell |
| nintendo 64 | Ryan Lindberg | sound | Montana Johnson |
| shoehorn | Ariel Dumas | props & stage manager | Sarah Holmberg |
| morse code | Matt Rein | lighting assistant | Willson Borchert |
| war propaganda | Zoe Benston | costume sketches | Cesia Kearns |
| cranberries cd | Melissa Anne Murphy | publicity art | Annette Pew |
| neckbrace | Seth Patterson | choreography | Ariel Dumas |
| magic consultant | Star Michaelina | ||
| promo video director | Ben Thietje | ||
| promo video script | John Heimbuch | ||
| photography | Dan Norman |
Reviews
Walking Shadow’s Robots vs. Fake Robots satisfies the need for play on all sorts of levels: It’s ridiculously engaging, arch, sexy, and makes fun of itself before you can. It’s also the rare show that you wish would go on for, say, another hour…
Director Steve Moulds’s production makes inventive use of the People’s Center space, using its balconies and entries to confound the room’s usual air of claustrophobia. Combined with knowingly garish costumes, and a cast that palpably plays to its strengths, this show bristles with excitement and a weird tinge of danger. It’s play, in the best sense of the word. We end up with glancing meditations on morality, obsolescence, superiority, and disgust—the yin/yang of youth and growing up, the eternal, glittering diamond of desire, the excitement of being alive, and the necessary decay at the heart of things.
Play is fun, and play is also deadly serious, more real than real. It’s not often that you come across a show that reflects this slippery but essential truth. Here is one.
-Quinton Skinner, City Pages
In science fiction, robots appear in many guises: everything from helpful sidekicks to scheming wannabe humans, the saviors of the Earth or our worst nightmare. But ultra-sexy, cutting-edge club-scene denizens? That’s playwright David Largman Murray’s unique take in “Robots vs. Fake Robots,” the newest offering by Walking Shadow Theatre…
Murray has some heady material on display, and director Steve Moulds and his cast give it free rein. Nathan Surprenant is a magnetic presence as the king of the robots; his campy lounge act is a highlight of the show. Jennifer Phillips evokes a touching vulnerability as a rusting robot prostitute, while Lindsay Marcy informs the role of Joe’s girlfriend with grit and an appealing directness… this is at its heart a bleak and disturbing work that will keep you thinking long after the laughter has died away.
-Lisa Brock, Star Tribune
