Theater Review: AI thriller 'anthropology' is a moving tale about the human psyche

Here is a prompt: What if you could have in your hands a tool to bring back someone you lost?

This is front and center in "anthropology," Barefoot Theatre Collaborative’s latest production, which serves as the psychological thriller's Asian premiere and Barefoot's first adaptation of a foreign play.

Written by American contemporary playwright Lauren Gunderson, "anthropology" is a play about Merril (played by Jenny Jamora), a woman so consumed by the sudden death of her sister Angie (Maronne Cruz) that she made an AI-powered chatbot of Angie as a coping mechanism.

It was trained on public and personal data and became so good that it deduced what really happened to the human Angie based on probability.

Leading the production in time for National Women's Month is its director, Caisa Borromeo, who kept her overall treatment as simple and sleek as an iPhone; The 'White Christmas' episode of "Black Mirror" kept popping into my mind.

The circular stage with matching ceiling and two movable curved benches was bare of clutter, a seeming manifestation of Merril's desire for order, and complementing the play's digital motif. It also reminded me of Barefoot's other productions ("The Last Five Years," "We Aren't Kids Anymore"), which maximized stage layout and movement to reinforce its themes.

Surrounding the stage were screens showing various forms of AI Angie — first as voice, then eventually as video. Besides the screens, familiar digital images and sounds peppered the production, sometimes up to a fault, as constant usage at times felt gimmicky. This production surrounded the audience with various forms of technology to further drive an immersive experience.

The sterile depiction of modern technology contrasted the tense and menacing portrayal of tech being too good for its own master. This inverted the whiteness of new tech into something more sinister and eerily palpable. Helping Borromeo present this tension on stage were her creative team: Technical Director and Lighting Designer D Cortezano, Production Designer Sarah Facuri, Sound Designer Arvy Dimaculangan, and Video Designers CueCraft and Steven Tansiongco.

Among the all-female cast, Jamora was a commanding force that anchored the production. Her performance of a character with bipolar emotions (from grief to joy and back again) was enough to fill the bare stage. Cruz, who was mainly inside screens, managed to switch between the extremes of an AI chatbot, at one endlessly likable, at another devious and disturbing. Her villainous tech character reminds me of 2001's HAL 9000 or WALL-E's AI autopilot AUTO.

The leads were supported by Mikkie Bradshaw-Volante, who played Merril’s ex-girlfriend Raquel, and Jackie Lou Blanco, who played the sisters' estranged mother Brin. Bradshaw-Volante's portrayal at times felt like she was speaking on behalf of the audience. Whereas Blanco managed to portray an empathetic grieving mother. Both provided support to Jamora and Cruz, managing to pierce through the production's sterile feel with necessary dashes of humanity.

The story itself is worth watching, and not just because it is about AI. Tales about tech going rogue have been told many times. But "anthropology" has enough twists and turns making the second half unrecognizable from other dystopian stories.

The story kept taking risks that everything felt fresh, up until the last memorable act. Without saying too much, the ending itself felt earned. It left a lot for ambiguity and discussions, much akin to our current relationship with AI itself.

But much is left for discussion on the play's depiction of AI. Within the languages and codes remain deeply human needs — the desire for connection, closure, acceptance. One may argue that Merril’s tragedy is that she equated human and tech connections as the same. But her own stubbornness to be proven correct was what made the AI. It was not a synthetic being, but rather a reflection of her inner self. And it became her therapy.

Is AI good or bad? We do not know yet. In various degrees, the supporting characters served to sow doubt on AI's capabilities. But "anthropology" is smart enough not to focus on that. Instead, it went beyond dystopian tropes to ask deeper questions and present unpredictable outcomes, which ultimately strengthened the story.

On its own, "anthropology" demonstrated how we shape our tools, and thereafter, our tools shape us. Its tech-driven themes, even in the context of the modern world, remain as human as ever. 

Disclaimer: This theater review of a play about artificial intelligence took many human hours to write and likely led to the deterioration of countless brain cells. If only we could take the human out of the writing equation, amirite chatbots?

The 2026 Barefoot Theatre Collaborative production of "anthropology" is being staged at the Doreen Black Box, Arete in Quezon City. It runs for 90 minutes with no intermission. It is rated PG-13, featuring language and themes that may not be suitable for younger audiences, including grief, mental health issues, abuse, and substance use. Children below 7 years old will not be admitted to the theater.

License managed by Harmonia Holdings, Ltd. under special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Ltd.

The production runs until March 29, 2026. Tickets are available here. — LA, GMA Integrated News