Under their reign, robots cease all industry and implement new systems to assure they can live on earth forever. Robots take all the art out of galleries and start living in them, as the buildings are human beings’ most ergonomic work. It is only when Executive Producer Master Bot writes a play that a human playwright/director, Giles, is sent up from the mines, in the hope that robots will begin to understand the formula of art.
Giles refuses to direct it because it’s long and boring, but Executive is not done. He spends an afternoon downloading the human history of art, and before his nightly tube of food paste, he has become the greatest artist ever known.
Think Oscar Wilde merged with Salvador Dali…then cube it. But because Executive can’t feel, he can’t enjoy art, so he makes a deal with Giles: If Giles is capable of putting on a play that can make robots feel, he will let him live. But if he can’t, he will be executed in front of his cast.
Travis Cotton’s first play, The Fifth at Randwick, won Naked Theatre Company’s ‘Top Shorts’ competition. It has gone on to play in Sydney, Perth and Melbourne. His other writing credits include God, The Devil and the true history of mankind, The Rites of Evil (Red Stitch, 2009) and as co-writer of the musical Blasted Earth, which played at the Old Fitzroy in Sydney. With acclaimed visual artist, Nick Waddell, designing the piece, an exciting cast including Daniel Frederiksen, Simon Maiden, Natasha Jacobs and Paul Goddard, and Travis Cotton’s fast paced comedic Australian dialogue, Robot Vs. Art is sure to be an thrilling and original production.
