As someone with a profound lack of technological knowledge (who genuinely thought it was pronounced ‘Chap GCT’ for over a month), I wasn’t sure if Jamie Rycroft’s ‘ABRA’ would be for me. The premise: PhD student Tim (Luke Malone) introduces Roxanne (Poppy Saunders), his fellow computer science postgrad and ex-girlfriend, to John (Richard Dodd), his eccentric professor. Together, John and Tim have been developing ABRAXAS, a language based on computer programs aimed to ‘accurately reflect reality’. Keen to be involved, Roxanne persuades John to teach her ABRAXAS, the impetus for a multitude of tensions.

I needn’t have worried - it was a great show. ‘ABRA’ is a play about how we communicate, about academic ownership, about integrity, about the power of AI. These wide-ranging topics, contrasted with the deeply personal, often claustrophobic relationships between John, Tim and Roxanne, made for an intriguing viewing.

“The play’s discussion centred around ethics rather than technicalities, so it never felt inaccessible or exclusive”

It was clear that Rycroft understood the conditions of his fictional language, and ABRAXAS itself was explored with an insightful specificity. By the same token, though, the play’s discussion centred around ethics rather than technicalities, so it never felt inaccessible or exclusive. It was also properly funny in places: I particularly enjoyed ABRA (Roxanne’s controversial AI app creation) developing a sassy edge, refusing to make a call because ‘Tim won’t be awake at this time’. Whilst, at a couple of points, some more development was needed - Roxanne’s regional dialect provided the roots of an interesting discussion about how to communicate ‘properly’, but this wasn’t really sustained - I was engaged throughout.

A highlight, too, were the involving scenes of a complex board game which John and Roxanne develop, adding rules - and rules about rules - until they become trapped in a paradox. Perhaps a physical representation of the developing technology they grapple with, the peaks and troughs of the game cleverly mirrored their academic struggle: ‘you either’, John cryptically comments at one point, ‘win, you lose, or you refuse to play at all’.

“I found myself rooting for her, but not without recognition of the more divisive aspects of her character”

All three performances were hitchless, and the three actors spoke Rycroft’s dialogue with a fluency which made the conversations utterly convincing. Saunders, a particularly dynamic presence, captured Roxanne’s ambition with a nuance which prevented her from falling into the ‘plucky upstart’ trope; I found myself rooting for her, but not without recognition of the more divisive aspects of her character. Malone, too, played Tim as an affable fop without seeming stupid, so his eventual turn against John and Roxanne, whilst surprising, was not unbelievable. And Dodd was exceptional; he played John as a modern age mad professor, as intriguing, irritating and pedantic as the language he engineers.

The only significant issue, I found, was in the emotional pacing of the play. Arguments arose in almost every scene, and although this worked to emphasise the extent of division between the characters, it meant that there was no real build-up to the ending. Whilst Dodd committed wholeheartedly to John’s eventual, climactic breakdown, slamming his books to the floor with a genuinely terrifying energy, the play’s generally irate edge prevented this moment from having the impact it could have done. The conflict between Tim and Roxanne, too, could have done with a stronger grounding; it was clear that a level of their academic rivalry lay in their past relationship, but without the context for it their disputes were somewhat tedious. This wouldn’t have been obvious, though, if the show wasn’t otherwise so well done - ABRA is a must-watch.

ABRA is showing at the Corpus Playroom until the 20th of January