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Theater Reviews
EDITOR’S NOTE
Duras drama scheduled by Blessed Unrest troupe
The physical theater ensemble Blessed Unrest will present the Marguerite Duras play La Musica Deuxième from May 2–18 at Drawing Room (247 West 30th St., Unit 9R). Artistic director Jessica Burr will direct the cast of two. In the play, Duras, a feminist, communist and revolutionary, tells the story of lovers who unexpectedly reunite after separation. La Musica Deuxième is a reckoning,” says Burrs. “It speaks to the dilemmas of being flesh-bound ... of love, and of the clinging, grasping seizures of jealousy.” Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays, with an additional performance on Monday, May 6; there is no performance on May 3. For tickets, visit blessedunrest.org. —Edward Karam
Theatre 4he People will present Donor Wanted (or, The Unnamed Baby Play) at the Chain Studio Theatre (312 W. 36th St., 4th floor), from April 11 to 28. Written by T. J. Young and directed by Haley Rice, the play follows two women who have been unable to conceive and turn to the Internet for help. In backward-looking scenes, the play charts the course of how they got where they are. For tickets and more information, visit theatre4thepeople.org. —Edward Karam
In addition to introducing the word robot to the English language, Czech writer Karel Čapek’s 1920 sci-fi drama R.U.R. depicted a dystopian world in which scientifically manufactured laborers gradually eradicate humans. The play perfectly captured the anxieties of the burgeoning Machine Age and was a big hit on Broadway in 1922. S. Asher Gelman’s Scarlett Dreams attempts to tap into similar uneasiness as the former Information Age settles into the current Age of Intelligence. With the meteoric advancement and sudden ubiquity of artificial intelligence (AI), the play suggests that it may be just a matter of time when people will be controlled by digital avatars, and the difference between reality and virtual reality (VR) will become purely conjectural.