Writer: YY Yung
Director: Krissy Yin Lam
The First Human & The Last Life is as pessimistic as its title suggests. Thousands of years after humankind has perished, an AI robot finally manages to create a human from the DNA left by two scientists. Can the robot teach its new charge a new version of humanity that won’t lead to war and destruction? Big questions for sure, but YY Yung’s play takes too long to ask them, let alone provide any answers.
First, with allusions to Frankenstein, we must watch the robot (creepily and mirthlessly performed by Adrian Poon) explain walking and talking to the new human (Winky Sze-wai Chan). She falls a few times and finds it difficult to find words. He then takes her out into the forest, where she delights in a rain shower and finds a cat that soon becomes her pet. It’s as prosaic as it sounds.
It’s not towards the end of the 60-minute show that the philosophical ideas are really addressed. Does our desire to kill for greed and fun rather than for food or territory make us different from animals? And because of this, is self-annihilation already hardwired into our DNA?
Another unique human quality is the creation of art, and the robot takes his ward to a museum to admire paintings and statues. He also hands her a catalogue, within which are photos of masterpieces. It’s a shame, though, that this catalogue is nothing more than an M&S Christmas brochure, visible to almost everyone in the audience. When it is dropped to the floor, the booklet unfortunately reveals an image of mince pies.
The new human is drawn to a pieta in the gallery, and motherless, she craves a motherly embrace, something, of course, the robot cannot supply. There’s an unbridgeable abyss between human and AI, and only one party is dependent on the other. The First Human & The Last Life bravely tries to interrogate issues that are pertinent today, but it should get to these questions more quickly.
Runs until 23 November 2025
The Reviews Hub Star Rating