At Central Square, a play that explores a tricky father-son-robot relationship
CAMBRIDGE — The frenzy and fear surrounding the swift rise of artificial intelligence can drown out the people behind the programming.
“Machine Learning,” Francisco Mendoza’s drama that runs through Feb. 25 at Central Square Theater in a co-production with Teatro Chelsea and the Catalyst Collaborative@MIT, follows a simple, heartfelt story of a father and son and the challenges of trying to connect — with and without the help of AI.
“Although the script references Isaac Asimov and his ‘three laws of robotics,’ this is not a sci-fi play,” Mendoza says during a recent rehearsal break.
The story moves back and forth in time as programmer Jorge (Armando Rivera) builds and refines his program for a “nurse-robot” named Arnold (a nod to the star of “The Terminator”) designed to care for his father, Gabriel (Jorge Alberto Rubio). The play, like the computer program, Mendoza says, is connecting the jumbled pieces of a mosaic — a childhood memory here, a conversation there — and trying to find meaning.
“But while the machine is making the connections, who is doing the learning?” Mendoza says. “A machine, no matter how intelligent, only responds to the information it is given.”
Says Rivera, “I love the way Jorge can only — really must — speak honestly to Arnold. In a way, Arnold is a reflection of Jorge himself.”
As Jorge modifies Arnold’s program to remind his father to take his medications, abstain from alcohol, and eat a healthy diet, the logic sometimes backfires. When Jorge tries to explain that he smokes cigarettes because “sometimes bad things feel good,” Arnold (Matthew Zahnzinger) can’t quite follow.
Mendoza, 33, was born in Argentina before moving with his family to Brazil at age 12, and then heading to New York for graduate school in 2015. He got his green card last year, a years-long process that was also dehumanizing, he says, and took a toll on his self-esteem.
“I know how difficult it can be to connect, especially when you feel like a foreigner,” he says. “There’s a kind of homesickness and loneliness I know that allowed me to inhabit these characters.”
The family members in “Machine Learning” are also outsiders. Gabriel immigrated to the States for work but faces enormous pressure and isolation when he loses a job that was tied to his visa.
“There’s a moment when Gabe tells Jorge, ‘We must speak English,’” Mendoza says, “that allows me to use Spanish as a lens for us to look at the baggage we have as outsiders in this country, but also in this relationship.”
Rivera is the artistic director of Teatro Chelsea, which launched four years ago. The company’s home is with Apollinaire Theatre Company at Chelsea Theatre Works, where it hosts the ATípico Latinx New Play Festival each year and selects one of those plays for a full production.
Rivera and cofounder Jaime Hernandez have focused on building relationships and interest in theater within Chelsea while expanding their connections with well-established Boston-area theaters. Teatro Chelsea is now partnering with the Huntington on a new Latino play reading initiative after previously working with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company and ArtsEmerson. Last year, Rivera shadowed “Alma” director Elena Velasco at Central Square before the companies co-produced “Machine Learning.”
“I have been focused on directing and producing,” Rivera says, in addition to running arts programming and teaching teens at La Colaborativa in Chelsea, “but I fell in love with this play and the role of Jorge.”
“We all have core memories we hang onto that define what we need and also what we missed as children,” he says.
Adds Mendoza, “At the end, we are trying to find a level of grace, if not forgiveness. If I can’t agree, can I at least understand your point of view?” Drama at the coffee shop
Food Tank, a nonprofit dedicated to “positive transformation in how we produce and consume food,” is presenting a pair of workshop performances of “Little Peasants,” a play that takes audiences inside a union campaign at a coffee shop chain, with the audience given a fly-on-the-wall view of both the workers’ concerns and the managers’ needs. At the end, the audience decides which way to vote, and the workers and managers must abide by their decision. “Little Peasants” will be performed at The Burren, 247 Elm St., Somerville, Feb. 7 and Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. Go to burren.com, foodtank.com, or 24hourconcerts.showare.com.
A social-media satire set to music
Image Theatre presents the world premiere of “Lost Cellphone Weekend,” a comic adaptation of the 1945 classic “The Lost Weekend,” with music by composer and playwright Stephen Gilbane. The musical, a satire about our addiction to social media, centers on a couple who head to Vermont for the weekend and discover to their distress they don’t have access to the internet. “Lost Cellphone Weekend” will be performed at the Richard and Nancy Donahue Academic Arts Center, 240 Central St., Lowell, Feb. 2-3 and Feb. 9-10. Tickets are $30 ($15 for Middlesex Community College students). Go to imagetheater.com.