Copycat theatre review: Humanity against the machine
A playful, politically-charged investigation into AI, art and fascism
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Fringe First winner and festival veteran Joe Sellman-Leava returns with Copycat, a solo show all about art, fascism and AI. Starting off with a quickfire round of truly excellent impressions (his Gandalf is uncanny), he takes us back to his school days and the advice given to him by an inspiring teacher: you can say a lot with your eyes. Through audience interaction and warm-up games, Sellman-Leava proves just how wise his high school drama teacher really was.
Like many of us, Sellman-Leava was originally ambivalent about AI, seeing it as an imperfect tool to make life a bit easier. Fast forward a few years and his industry is disappearing in favour of robotically regurgitated slop, all stolen from human artists. In the face of increasing uncertainty, he starts digging, and soon the same names begin popping up: Palantir, Peter Thiel, Elon Musk.
It’s impossible to summarise a show that moves through ideas at such a pace, but Copycat is perhaps best described as a theatrical web. Sellman-Leava weaves memory, belief and fact into a thought-provoking tapestry that slowly reveals what a gift our humanity is, and what a tragedy it would be if we let it go without a fight.
Copycat, Pleasance Dome, until 31 August, 4.10pm; picture: Andzrej Szymanksi.