‘The Turing Test:’ A Pertinent Commentary on Technophobia
Artificial Intelligence has long been a fictional harbinger of the apocalypse, but in recent years this dystopian trope has become all too real. The issue threatens millions of jobs, especially those of artists, so understandably the arts community is grappling with these concerns through their respective mediums.
Now playing at the TK Fringe: Studio Reflection presents The Turing Test, translated by Yuriy Popov and Yana Menov from the Russian play by Igor Yakimov. The piece stars Popov and Menov as Alan Shewhart and Randy Holder, respectively; Shewhart is a Doctor in Math Psychology who has been tasked with determining whether or not his new housekeeper, Holder, is human or A.I. within 24 hours. The ensuing action approaches A.I. controversy in a slow-burn blend of numerous genres; thriller, science fiction, romance, and a touch of comedy all are present in the show’s tight Fringe run time of 60 minutes.
The piece opens with a short video detailing the dangers of A.I. before illuminating Shewhart’s messy home where Holder is about to arrive. The writing is intelligent in the way it interrogates Holder’s humanity: she is only able to cook hard-boiled eggs, accomplishes a task in exactly the amount of seconds she noted it would take her, and is overly literal in following instructions. The team also has done an excellent job in planting seeds of doubt into the minds of the audience through design. For example, the opening video notes how A.I. can influence a person’s spending habits; later on in the play Menov wears a striking black dress with sparkles and Popov just happens to don a perfectly matching bowtie. These clever little nods to the audience are intricately woven into the design in a charming and intelligent manner.
Popov and Menov’s performances suit the piece well. Both give their characters an inherent awkwardness that could be read as human or robotic, and yet they still manage to insert an electric chemistry into the characters’ interactions. Maintaining audience unsurety by teetering a character on the brink of two identities is not a simple task for an actor, but the pair glide through the challenge with ease.
The production uses projections to assure accessibility for the hearing impaired, which is a delightful concept, but being able to see the script as the words are spoken means the actors have to be absolutely word-perfect. It’s a small issue to have, but fairly regularly there were inconsistencies between what was being spoken by the performers and what was being projected onto the screen. Entire jokes even seemed to be rewritten to accommodate Canadian audiences in the surtitles, but the lines delivered on the stage were phrased completely differently.
My other issue with the piece is that the latter portion of the script offers twists that are not quite earned by the previously supplied context, and many of the loose ends which have been set up to intrigue the viewers are simply left unresolved. This results in an ending which, while entertaining and a little humorous, also left me deeply dissatisfied following the play.
Despite its small shortcomings, the script is timely, the projections are charming, and the performers are tactful in their craft, with a profound understanding of the script’s complexities which shines through in their designs. Ultimately, The Turing Test is an eerily relevant script which is fantastic as food for thought with a healthy dose of laughter.
‘The Turing Test’ from Studio Reflection plays until August 11, 2025 at the Davies Lounge in the TK Fringe as part of The Kick & Push Festival. More information about the festival can be found here.
