"Beyond demonstrating that a smart speaker is no substitute for family, and an especially creepy way for a lonely software engineer to initiate an affair, 'Smart' doesn’t mine fresh insight about what it means for relationships to be mediated by technology. "
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“...’Smart,’ running a little under two hours with one 15-minute intermission, does strain credulity and, at times, patience...the play’s brevity makes us wish the rejiggering of the set during the intermission could have somehow been eliminated to get the whole thing down to 90 minutes.”
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“The play is at its best when sticking to the messy facts of life; its speculations on artificial intelligence are, well, artificial.”
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“The play is strong in terms of thoughtfulness, characterizations, parent-adult-child relationships, and plotting but weak in clarity...Whatever its weaknesses, I am glad I saw Smart and will keep an eye out for future productions of Mary Elizabeth Hamilton's work.”
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"Often in flawed pieces, there’s a giveaway line. In 'Smart' the line is, “So what’s the problem?” At the end of this day, Hamilton hasn’t completely inserted and settled the problem."
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This year’s Alfred P. Sloan Foundation award-winning play in science and technology is Mary Elizabeth Hamilton’s "Smart" being produced by co-sponsor Ensemble Studio Theatre. While the play flirts with ideas about the dangers of artificial intelligence, it contains very little science. Instead, "Smart" is a domestic drama about Elaine, a young Brooklynite, who must deal with her mother’s deteriorating health and her own missing love life. While Matt Dickson’s direction is fine as far as it goes it does not compensate for the gaps in the script.
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“Discussion of AI can be a fearful rabbit hole, but ‘SMART’ presents that discussion gracefully by focusing on people. People who only want the best for their loved ones. ”
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"Despite the tech-lingo title and a two-page program note about virtual assistant devices, Smart doesn’t really delve into their threat to our privacy and the potential abuse of personal information they collect. This story is much more about relationships than technology. Beautifully calibrated performances win out over the production’s negatives."
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