HAPPY HOUR
150 polystyrene panels, three performers and an infinite number of generated structures.
Happy Hour is a performative minecraft that takes inspiration from the current buzz around artificial intelligence and attempts to translate its principles into theatrical form. From simple to complex, from construction to deconstruction. In the course of one hour, many structures are built and demolished on stage, always resembling something specific: a swamp, a lake, a cemetery, a glacier, a tower, a temple, a fortress... but as soon as you can identify them, they are already being dismantled and new ones are being built. The frenetic activity of the performers thus resembles the process of machine learning, where neural networks try to mimic the world of humans, our characteristics and behavior by processing huge amounts of data. Inevitably, a situation arises where the copy approaches the original, where it crosses boundaries that until now seemed unsurpassable..
And in the same way that computer scientists working with algorithms based on deep learning are unable to understand the path that led to the result, so too can the events on stage resemble a glimpse into a black box. Something emerges that is beyond our capabilities, that we do not understand and that no longer needs us. Happy Hour offers, through a powerful visual experience, a glimpse into an uncanny world that we created but cannot master - a meditation on the possibilities of man in an era of ending human exclusivity.
Alfred ve dvoře Theatre is supported by City of Prague, Ministry of Culture, State Fund of Culture of the Czech Republic, Prague 7 The District of Art and Culture.