Theater students write play about AI
‘Scheherazade 2.0” on stage April 2-4
University of Pittsburgh at Bradford theater students are thinking about artificial intelligence this semester. Those thoughts inspired them to create an original theater piece, “Scheherazade 2.0, or the 1,000,001 AI Nights,” to be performed next weekend.
Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. April 2 and 3 and at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. April 4 in the Studio Theater located in Blaisdell Hall on campus. Admission is $6 for the public.
Creating a play from scratch has become a bi-annual tradition for the spring semester student production.
“As with our previous world premieres of newly devised pieces, students begin with asking themselves, ‘What are we really interested in? What are we concerned about? What’s on our minds?’” said Dr. Kevin Ewert, professor of theater. “From there, they pose a question, find something in the world to anchor that question to, and then come up with a structure to tell that story.
“The students were all interested in artificial intelligence, but they also wanted to have something positive to say rather than just doom and gloom. So, the classic tale of Sheherazade and the 1001 Arabian Nights came into the mix and became our frame, and we asked: Could telling stories save your life if they were just AI slop? The answers here are funny, incisive, and sometimes surprising.”
The students who created and are performing the piece are Randy Mong, a senior English major from Russell; Sean Luce, a senior writing and English education 7-12 major from Bradford; Sadie Elliot, a senior writing and sociology major from Pittsburgh; Malakai Hines, a freshman interdisciplinary arts major from New Brunswick, N.J.; Adriana Herrera, a senior interdisciplinary arts major from Leasburg, N.C.; Zech Waterman, a junior English major from Bradford; and Adedayo Awofiranye, a freshman nursing major from Pittsburgh.
Tickets are available at www.pitt.edu/theArts and one hour prior to the show at the Bromeley Family Theater Box Office. There is a $3 service charge per transaction for online purchases.
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