Alicia Iott

Elevator Pitch

This is the story of how one robot uses the power of evolving algorithms to feed himself.
The audience will view a evolutionary transformation of a single robot completing a task from incapable (first stage) to successful (final stage). The performance will consider genetic algorithms an apply a linear narrative.

Character Relationships

The world/ universe: Evo-bot is hungry and the food he so desperately wants is out of reach.
Other characters: Evo-bot is the only character but there are several iterations of him, so in this way he only competes with himself.
The Environment: Evo-bot surmounts obstacles by developing his own skills.
The audience: Evo-bot represents ( on a very small time scale ) how we exist, encouraging the viewer to empathize and find compelling meta-narratives about themselves in the performance.

Story Beats

1. The audience will see a robot try to pull some food off of a table.
2. At first the robot’s movements are jerky and he is unsuccessful.
3. The robot will exit the stage.
4. Upon reentry, the robot will have a modified appearance (different skin) and his movements will be more deliberate.
5. The robot will grasp at a table cloth and try to pull it along with the food off the table.
6. The robot will again fail.
7. The robot will exit and reenter again, with even more precise movements and this time he will successfully swipe food from the table.

Notes on Realization

The text will be interpreted quite literally. The robot’s gestures should be interpreted with respect to the context: an effort to obtain food. He will make attempts and fail.
There will be no dialogue or music. The sound will come from the robot himself as he moves and considers his goal and his scuffles along the ground as he makes attempts to achieve his goal.
The performance has very clear start and end states. The performance will start as Evo-bot moves onto the stage and notices the enticing food. It will end when Evo-bot is eating happily.
The number of actuators is not determined at this point; it will likely be no more than 3. The minimum requirement would be for Evo-bot to move across the floor and grasp something with an attachment.
The implied elements of the setting are a kitchen, perhaps someone’s home. Evo-Bot may be a house cleaning robot who stumbled upon some leftovers. These details will be essential in creative empathy for the robot. Many audience members have seen their own pet try to swipe a snack from the counter and indeed many audience members have done so themselves.