At risk of amplifying some stereotypes by saying this, for someone who sees as much theater as I do, you might be surprised at how much Star Trek I’ve watched. One particular standout episode of the many, many Star Trek series was one from 1989 called “The Measure Of A Man”, thought by many to be among the very best episodes of all time. In it, Data, a hyper-advanced android with true artificial intelligence is on trial for his very existence, as Starfleet (the Trek world’s military of the future) insists that he be disassembled to find out how his brain works, and his resignation from Starfleet is not honored, because he is considered Starfleet property, thus has no agency. This conflict results in a trial to determine…the measure of a man. At the time it was written, today’s technology was likely unthinkable, and the episode seems like it was an anti-slavery, pro-civil rights allegory, but it was impossible to not think about when watching Theatre Nova’s new play (by their founder and Artistic Director, Carla Milarch) called Doctor Moloch.

Set in the very near future at the offices of a company called Vital AI in London, an aging actress is offered a ludicrous ten million dollar contract to spend a week with Doctor Moloch, the company’s nearly perfect humanoid creation, so that she can determine if it has the capacity for emotions, and if so, teach it to “feel.” The play is a “three-hander”, which I know is not a term I just invented because I just looked it up, but it’s not something you see in live theater very often. The story is told through the eyes of Serena Blaise, winner of two Academy Awards, yet still feeling the hot breath of ageism on her neck as it runs down her career to its inevitable conclusion. Her benefactor is Mo, an odious, oily, tech bro who is part owner of Vital AI, and for his own reasons may or may not want the Moloch project to be a success. Of course, the good Doctor himself is played as a roughly thirty year old man dressed like Don Draper from Mad Men. The vast bulk of the play is Serena’s verbal jousting with Moloch, both teaching and learning from him about the meaning of what it means to be human. Much like a classical MacGuffin, the full extent of Doctor Moloch’s abilities are unlimited and unimportant (He can find missing people…and read minds), and he can do whatever the plot requires of him.

As Serena, Shelby Bradley is regal and self assured until her experience with Moloch and his probing questions about family secrets she’s rather not explore breaks her down to her foundation. Bradley plays both ends of Serena’s character very convincingly, and ably conveys the utter disbelief that any of this is actually happening to her. Louis Chen, who I have every reason to believe is a perfectly affable young man, is really distasteful as Mo. He’s basically an amalgam of everything not to like about Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and the Winkelvoss Twins from The Social Network, but just when you think Mo has no depth or redeeming characteristics, Chen conveys the spark of humanity still in at his core. Artun Kircali as Moloch himself is truly a find, and is impressive from his very first line. What struck me most about his performance, which is appropriately robotic and emotionless for the bulk of the show is the relentless hammerlock he has on the script. By definition, a human being pretending to be an artificial intelligence pretending to be human needs to be letter perfect with the text…all the time. Siri doesn’t ever flub a line and Alexa never starts a sentence twice. Even Brent Spiner, who so famously portrayed various versions of the aforementioned Data over a thirty five year span has the benefit of off-screen cues and multiple takes to get through tough stretches of dialogue, but Kircali’s work here is extraordinary, slicing through absolutely brutal blocks of technical jargon with probably 99.9% precision.

I enjoyed this show, and appreciate the work of the talented crew on and off stage it took to bring it to life. I’m glad to see that it looks like other companies are discovering it and will be producing it into the future, and if you’re within driving distance of Ann Arbor and want a thought provoking evening of theater, I encourage you to check it out.

(Doctor Moloch is playing at Theatre Nova in Ann Arbor now through August 4th. Tickets are available at www.theatrenova.org, or by calling the Theatre Nova box office at 734-635-8450. Questions? Write to a2theatrenova@gmail.com)