LookingOutwards-01 Sara Lyons – Annie Dorsen’s “Yesterday Tomorrow”

Yesterday Tomorrow is an algorithmic theatre piece created and directed by Annie Dorsen. The center of the piece is a computer algorithm that, over the course of an hour, translates The Beatles’ “Yesterday” into “Tomorrow” from the musical Annie!. The transition is randomized by the algorithm note by note, projected live onstage as sheet music. In addition, computer algorithms are employed to randomize changes in lighting throughout the piece. Three actor/singers sightread the sheet music for the 1-hour+ duration of the piece, and also follow randomized cues to change their physical position onstage. The randomized algorithmic elements ensure that the piece is never the same twice.

Yesterday Tomorrow was developed over several years, initiated by Annie Dorsen, in collaboration with a full team of programmers, performers, designers, technicians, and managers. Her background is unique as a theatre artist who innovates in the field by incorporating programming and algorithms into an archaic art form. Her work exposes the ways our everyday lives are controlled by algorithms, even as those algorithms are largely invisible to us on a day-to-day level.