MIKE PETERS
Michael Frederic and Ellen Adair co-star in Premiere Stages’ production of “Flawless.”
The play “Flawless” was first presented last fall at Penguin Rep Theatre in Stony Point, New York. And at a talkback on the first weekend of its current run in the Premiere Stages series at Kean University in Union, playwright John J. Wooten mentioned that significant changes were made since then — partly because this is a play in which A.I. plays a big part, and A.I. has progressed a lot, in a matter of months.
One imagines that, with A.I. is changing so rapidly, more changes may need to be made, soon, to ensure that “Flawless” remains scary enough to convey A.I.’s threat. And “Flawless” is pretty scary, as it is: a cautionary tale for our technology-obsessed age.
The three-character play, directed here by Joe Brancato, is set in the present. But Wooten (who is also Premiere Stages’ producing artistic director) works a step ahead, imagining a version of A.I. that does not exist in 2026.
The A.I. character, named Percy, is robotic in some ways, but deeply human in others. He lies and schemes and pouts and manipulates. Asked to help a playwright finish a play, he approaches the project like a driven artist: He will do anything to get the job done, and make it as flawless as possible. (Even though, as the British writer Havelock Ellis once remarked, “The absence of flaw in beauty is itself a flaw.” And yes, I used A.I. to find that quote.)
MIKE PETERS
Alexander Ríos with Ellen Adair in “Flawless.”
To get back to the play … Percy is sometimes represented by actor Alexander Ríos’ voice. But sometimes, he is portrayed in three-dimensional form by Ríos. Imagine if HAL, from “2001: A Space Odyssey,” or Scarlett’s Johansson’s Samantha, from “Her,” could not just be heard, but be seen (not by the other characters, but by audience members). And Rios is sensational — slightly stiff and inhuman, but with flashes of strong emotions, mostly ugly ones, breaking through the smooth exterior.
The other two characters are Tess (Ellen Adair) and Frank (Michael Frederic). The middle-aged Frank is an old-school playwright — possibly the last one on Earth still using a typewriter instead of a computer. Tess, his significantly younger former student, doesn’t just write on a laptop, but stays glued to her cellphone, and has used A.I. to create a Broadway hit.
And she wants Frank’s help in creating more. You see, Frank is great at coming up with ideas for plays — something A.I. can’t do for itself — but not so good at finishing the plays. With Frank’s brilliant ideas, and A.I.’s formidable skills, Tess thinks she can keep the hits coming.
But Frank wants no part of it.
“I’m one of the good guys,” Tess argues. “Attendance is up. Patrons are coming to see (my play) in droves. And with your help, with your brilliant mind guiding us, we will make certain that continues: Real theater created by real playwrights.”
“Except it won’t be real,” Frank responds.
MIKE PETERS
Ellen Adair and Michael Frederic in “Flawless.”
Much of “Flawless” revolves around this basic conflict: Tess is a true believer in A.I., but Frank just can’t go along with it. This is complicated by their personal history: They used to be lovers, but Tess left. Now she has come back — for the moment, at least — to Frank’s modest home in rustic Mendocino, California, and Frank is happy about that. But whether she wants to resume their romantic relationship more permanently is unclear.
“Flawless” climaxes with a great final twist, in which Percy is revealed to have an agenda of his own, in a way that I didn’t see coming at all.
I have to admit that at times, through the course of the play, I wondered if Wooten had made Percy too real. But then, a few days after seeing “Flawless,” I started to notice a bunch of news stories such as this one, from thehill.com. (Headline: “Anthropic researchers warn out-of-control AI could destroy humans”).
Apparently, the future of the human race is in jeopardy. Or, at least some people — who know a lot more about the subject than I do — think that it could be.
So maybe I got it wrong. Perhaps Wooten made Percy as real as he needs to be, to convey the enormity of the danger.
Premiere Stages will present “Flawless” at The Bauer Boucher Theatre Center at Kean University in Union through Sept. 20. Visit premierestagesatkean.com.
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