For many, the world Qualia envisions was first glimpsed in Cormac McCarthy’s seminal novel, The Road, a haunting tale of a man and his son desperately trying to survive in the midst of devastation after a nuclear Armageddon. In the 2006 masterpiece, hope has been abandoned, wretchedness is constant and much of what’s left of mankind has succumbed to cannibalism.
A similar landscape is drawn In Qualia, a stealthily intense work by Ashleigh Ann Gardner now in performance at Madison Street Theater in Oak Park. More apprehensively dour than unrelentingly bleak, its focus centers on how human beings find, build and sustain connections and relationships in a decimated world.
Initially, we interpret Harrison Ornelas’s gleamingly pristine and futuristic set as a bay on an Enterprise like starship. Only one person, Alex (Shelby Marie Edwards) is on board and her sole companion is non-human, Dominic (Diego Longoria), a digital assistant equipped with highly sophisticated intelligence and enhanced with the capability to feel emotion. The last point is something we learn later; but their interactions early on make it clear that Dominic’s sensory mechanisms are exceptional. He not only understands Alex’s habits, he can also decipher her moods and anticipate her needs. Through their banter, often warm and rich in humor, you see what they share is much more than a simple reliance on one another’s practical capabilities. Their knowledge of and fondness for each other could only be called a trusting friendship.
Existing only as a voice, Longoria’s Dominic, or Dom as Alex calls him, straddles the line between machine efficiency and sentient self-awareness with brilliant grace. Alex’s vitality, willed optimism and natural wit act as ideal counterbalances to the imperviousness of his logic. Together they negotiate the daily task of surviving as a co-dependent unit.
Through their exchanges about food supplies and maintaining the physical integrity of their environment, we learn that this is not a spaceship but a bunker on a post-apocalyptic planet earth 100 years in the future. And that the viability of their existence is precarious. Rations are low. And to feel safe going outside to scavenge for food or make repairs to the bunker’s shell, Alex dons a protective suit because she doesn’t trust the quality of the air.
None of this prevents them from thinking positively about the future and working towards realizing significant goals. Providing Dominic with human form ranks chief among them. Together in this limbo state for five years, they’ve made attempts to accomplish this transition before. Alex’s failures have left Dominic fearful of future efforts. Each prior attempt revealed the potential for catastrophe with greater and greater clarity. But just as he reassures her when he knows she needs it, she does the same with him. The vulnerability they share between each other and their willingness to trust the other expose an intimacy that they both recognize but hesitate acknowledging; until they do.
Gardner’s writing gives tremendous viability to the notion that two distinct types of intelligence can meld based on need and affinity. And Edwards in the role of Alex, the only presence you see on stage, is marvelous in the way she embodies Alex’s conviction in possibilities and how smoothly she propels the momentum of the play. Focus on how the two will handle their confessions to one another leaves you stunned when Alex runs into the bunker terrified after making repairs to its exterior. Someone has seen her and is knocking on the door.
Initially, you sense a threat with this new arrival. Alex lets him in despite Dominic’s protests and although she knows this interloper, his manner and speech seem unduly harsh. Certainly judgmental. The threat of physical danger eventually eases, but there’s something ominous about Seth (Ben Perry). His reaction to Dominic is openly hostile and he finds Alex’s closeness with an inanimate construct blatantly distasteful. The crassness of Seth’s arrogance leaves Dominic just as disdainful of him and the caustic thrust of their verbal sparring lands hot and stinging. But despite his living a harsh existence similar to that described in McCarthy’s novel, Seth has one advantage. He lives in the company of other people. And he uses the enticement of being with others, reestablishing human connection and the opportunity to once again experience human touch to persuade Alex to join him on the outside.
Because of her loyalty to Dominic, the promises she’s made to him and her feeling for him, her decision is a predictably anguishing one. Not realizing how much she missed all of the things Seth offered, and finding herself more and more consumed by the opportunity to have them again; especially the sensation of re-experiencing touch, the choice she makes is more surprising than it should be. But choices aren’t always final and the way this one evolves is also a true reflection of what it is to be human.
There are aspects of flow and credibility that could be tightened in this production, but the authenticity and purity of Qualia’s core message are what make it so luminous, instructive and completely gratifying. Wonderfully compelling performances by a trio of very fine actors push it beyond engaging to make this unorthodox tale about love a rewarding and thought provoking revelation.
Qualia
Through June 29, 2024
Subtext Studio Theatre Company
Venue: Madison Street Theater
1010 Madison Street
Oak Park, IL 60302