Revu My Dead Mum’s AI Boyfriend

“My Mum’s Dead AI Boyfriend” Poster

Sali Adams' new one-person play, My Dead Mum's AI Boyfriend, is probably the show I've anticipated more eagerly than anything else I've seen in OUDS. Having toured 113 with her, I've had some exclusive insights into the development of this show (which Adams herself wrote, stars in, and has co-directed alongside Aman Arya; produced through her and Alex Rawnsley's Interrobang Productions). When we were in Wales together in December, Adams was finalising the script; in Leeds last month, they were painstakingly arranging the show's many sound cues. In the interim, I even got to read the script: as soon as I'd finished it, I was desperate to see it performed live.

Adams' topical new play follows Carrie (Adams), a young teacher mourning the recent death of her reserved mother, who is tasked with taking her mum's secret AI companion, Aled (Billy Morton), on a road-trip to scatter her ashes in her Welsh home town. Set in the near future, the script explores personhood, mother-daughter relationships, national identity, and debates surrounding generative AI. We even get some striking glimpses into Carrie's wider personal life and the emotional scars it's left her with.

This script has a lot to juggle, but it maintains a deft balance between questions about technology and a character-driven story – it never feels like too much time is being spent on either. Probably the most mature and deeply human treatment of AI I've encountered, Adams' play never tells the audience what to think about chatbots. Carrie's relationship with Aled shifts and transforms, always intriguingly and often unexpectedly, and the narrative's trajectory is never given away until the ending, which is one of the best I've seen in theatre. This is all aided by perfect dialogue for Aled which, despite the fact that no AI was used in the creation of the play, perfectly captures the kind but soulless persona of a real chatbot ("Great catch, Cariad!"). If I wrote a play about AI, it would probably so virulently anti- that the audience would be bored or scared out of their seats within a few minutes. It is safe to say that Adams' complex, measured approach is infinitely more interesting...

“My Dead Mum’s AI Boyfriend”

What makes Adams' script really stand out, though, is its laugh-a-minute (or laugh-a-20-seconds, more accurately) humour. Every gag is characteristically Sali Adams, ranging from the wacky bits which betray her improv background (in one hilarious segment Hannah Wei appears as "the voice of 17th century Enlightenment philosopher John Locke?"), to the irreverent dark comedy ("your mum’s dead, which is famously a bit of a bummer"), and the many puns ("they really drove each other crazy, huh?"). An opportunity for a laugh is never missed, and the result is a dark comedy which hits hard emotionally when it wants to, but never lets you stop chuckling for too long.

Now, if you haven't gathered yet, this play features Adams alone onstage, but, like many one-person shows (Misterman, if you want an extreme example), tells its story with the help of recorded voice parts. These vocal performances are impeccably implemented by sound designer Iona Blair and Rawnsley as the operator, and are generally very strong across the board, although one or two feel miscast and flat. Memorable moments come from Holly Dodd as a driverless car infused with corporate over-enthusiasm, and Adam Griffiths as a well-meaning Welsh clergyman. The clear highlight among these performances, though, is Morton as Aled: an often hilarious but scarily realistic turn which captures exactly what can make AI companions so attractive, and so dangerous ("Whatever you need to share,

whenever you need to share it, I am here – a real, caring, non-judgmental friend"). A show like this relies on its voice cast almost as much as if the actors were actually onstage, and Interrobang have produced some genuinely incredible vocal performances that massively enhance their storytelling.

But, believe it or not, we haven't even got to the best part of this production: Adams' central performance is infused with an incredible degree of skill and variety. There is a reason why I've never heard of a one-person show in OUDS – Adams may be the only student performer I know that can confidently pull it off. Constantly truthful and likeable as she is, we are drawn effortlessly into Carrie's life and onto her side (which seems to be crucial for a show like this). The perfect facial expression is chosen for every moment, such that Adams can makes the audience laugh even when silently reacting to recorded vocal parts, notwithstanding frequent and well-timed punchlines.

There is much more to this performance than charm and wit, though. Perfectly-executed quips give way in key moments to devastating glimpses of grief, regret, and insecurity. I am compelled to tears more than once, and the extreme pathos this character creates is extraordinary (particularly in lieu of the kind of real-world grief often underlying similar solo performances, such as in the case of the prevalent "Dead Dad Show" – I am assured that Adams' mother is alive and well!). In one moment, Adams' wide grin as the Welsh national anthem plays slowly contorts into streaming tears, and the effect is crushing.

Is this is 'best' actor currently in OUDS? The jury's still out, but I think there's a very good chance... What I can tell you with certainty is that Sali Adams is one of the most entertaining, versatile, and talented performers you will ever see.

As a producer and performer for Fringe veterans the Oxford Imps, Adams knows very well how to navigate Edinburgh's arts festival. She plans to take My Dead Mum's AI Boyfriend up there this August, and it doesn't take an expert to predict how much love this relevant, hysterical play will get when it arrives. Interrobang have blown me away with talent, left me thinking about an increasingly inescapable issue, and compelled me into fits of laughter and tears along the way. If the antidote to growing waves of AI slop in our society is radically human, empathetic, and moving art, then it is safe to say Adams has hit the nail directly on the head.

4.5/5 Stars

“My Dead Mum’s AI Boyfriend”

Review by George Loynes

The link to George Loynes’s review blog is: https://roomwithreviewblog.blogspot.com/?m=1&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAadKaD9DWn-5mwBnPczPWh3KXF0Wm5MTE_D9WbXEiWAbpuhhg9yNdnyYWKaYSg_aem_MX4-