Machine Learning at Central Square Theater

Machine Learning

Central Square Theater
450 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge

Artificial Intelligence is here. There's no turning back. "Arnold" (named after the Terminator) is a nursing application created by wunderkind computer scientist Jorge to provide personalized treatment to Gabriel, his estranged and ailing father. As Arnold's learning increases and Gabriel's health deteriorates, Jorge must confront his responsibility as a son and accountability as a creator. Full disclosure: This play description is 100% human content.

Thru - Feb 25, 2024

Show Type: Drama

Box Office: 617-576-9278

www.centralsquaretheater.org

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Machine Learning Reviews

Average Rating based on 6 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

The Boston Globe - Somewhat Recommended

"...Directed by Gabriel Vega Weissman, who helmed a haunting 2018 production of Rajiv Joseph’s “Guards at the Taj” at Central Square Theater, “Machine Learning” brims with thought-provoking ideas that could presumably be made more dramatically compelling than they were Wednesday night"

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- Don Aucoin

WBUR - Highly Recommended

"...What’s interesting about the bilingual show is that it doesn’t attempt to present definitive answers to the imminent questions about technology’s use in health care. However, through the lens of a father and son (Gabriel and Jorge) struggling to connect, it does present a balanced case — not too heavy laden with tech speak so that it’s unapproachable — that shows how leaning too much on tech alone could help or hurt."

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- Jacquinn Sinclair

The Arts Fuse - Recommended

"...But at the heart of Machine Learning is the conflict between Jorge Alberto Rubio's Gabriel and Armando Rivera's grown-up Jorge. Appropriately, it is emotional learning that powers this play. Rubio is stalwart as he races from scene to scene, each time showing the accelerating effects of his illness or revealing the conditions that contributed to it, such as his drinking. Rivera, as his son Jorge, conveys the character's suffering and frustration, though his angst is leavened by his pride at having created a computer breakthrough like Arnold. Like most of the machines and robotics that populate science fiction, Arnold works wonderfully - right up to the moment it doesn't."

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- David Greenham

The Sleepless Critic - Highly Recommended

"...Though the production delves into the science of AI and the characters are encompassed by calculations and functionality, not for one moment does this production ever feel robotic. If anything, Machine Learning is a moving production that brings out the ties that bind between a father and son in all of its illuminating calculations."

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New England Theater Mirror - Recommended

"...Arnold is a nursing application created by a young brainiac, Jorge (Armando Rivera), to keep an eye on his alcoholic and cancer-ridden father, Gabriel (the excellent Jorge Alberto Rubio). Named for Arnold Schwarzenegger, whom Jorge had seen as a young boy in “The Terminator,” Arnold’s job is to care for, with the cure being the end goal, Gabriel. But Gabriel is a bit of a problem, as he likes alcohol and doesn’t seem to fear death."

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- Michele Markarian

The New England Theatre Geek - Recommended

"...Machine Learning jumps between 2002, 2015, and 2016. Its scenes unfold as Jorge relays memories to Arnold to improve Arnold’s programming and Gabiel’s care. The set designed by Janie E Howland rolls away from its walls the way Jorge’s memories roll from his consciousness. An actor turns from the audience and a couch is exposed like a vulnerability in a fortress. In one scene, Gabriel announces he’s going to vomit and a toilet magically appears. Screens surround the stage so Arnold sees it all."

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- Kitty Drexel

Machine Learning at Central Square Theater