Friday, 26 February 2016

By Computer you say...?

While I don't subscribe to Sky Arts and therefore missed Computer Says Show, I did catch one of the opening nights of Beyond The Fence, the musical that was created by computer - mostly. The show itself wasn't bad at all and the subject matter - the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp - is definately worth the musical treatment. It's just that this treatment seems damnably old-fashioned. In fairness, human authors Bemjamin Till and Nathan Taylor tried their best to stay within the limitations of the computers, accepting so much and then making informed choices but to be honest, one has to question the relevance of the whole project. 

The computer has been fed with the story arcs of 1696 musicals - who knew that there were that many?! - and from this, a plot suggestion, period and geography could be mapped out. The humans then turned to google to discover their setting. It's all very daft; a genuinely Big Bang Theory excercise that any student of musical theatre might pop out without resorting to state-of-the-art software or a PhD. 

To be honest, the result isn't half bad. It's certainly flawed and I was tempted to question these flaws at the Q&A last night but it was getting far too late and their is no point in questioning creatives still glowing from the euphoria of an opening night. If Till and Taylor had presented this show as their own work, I would have suggested that it was over-produced at the Arts, considering the stage it was at. I'd expect to see this at the Landor, Union or perhaps the Southwark as a work in progress, rather than a finished piece. it's ending is schmaltzy, despite some pithy scenes and there's an over-reliance on comedy in the second act that doesn't always work. The love-story is wholly underdeveloped so that when Mary accepts Jim's offer of togetherness, it grates against the solid independence she has shown throughout the show. Also, at Kim's death, Mary disappears inexplicably leaving Margie to comfort the mute George, simply to shoe-horn in her own song In Our Hearts. 

This is a female-heavy show and while the characters are well rounded, I wonder what the computers said about the lack of male voices in song and story. Also, a very minor point, Helen talks of failing at ballet as a child, until she sees Xanadu and gets roller skates. Xanadu was released in 1980 and as she is celebrating her 21st birthday in 1982, it will have made her 19 years old and not the ballet school drop-out we are led to believe in her song. It's a minor point but a reference that fans will pick up on, I'm sure. 

I imagine the excercise in Computer Says Show makes for interesting television but it certainly hasn't produced a hit musical. It's not a terrible show and I think the Greenham Common story begs a further, more imaginative treatment than any computer might offer. 

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