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A carregar... The (Curious Case of The) Watson Intelligencepor Madeleine George
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FINALIST Pulitzer Prize for Drama - 2014 Watson: trusty sidekick to Sherlock Holmes; loyal engineer who built Bell's first telephone; unstoppable super-computer that became reigning Jeopardy champ; amiable techno-dweeb who, in the present day, is just looking for love. These four constant companions become one in this brilliantly witty, time-jumping, loving tribute (and cautionary tale) dedicated to the people-and machines-upon which we all depend. Não foram encontradas descrições de bibliotecas. |
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Google Books — A carregar... GénerosSistema Decimal de Melvil (DDC)812.6Literature English (North America) American drama 21st CenturyClassificação da Biblioteca do Congresso dos EUA (LCC)AvaliaçãoMédia:
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Length: Full Length Play. Approximate time: 120 minutes; 80 pages
Awards: Nominated for Pulitzer Prize for Drama (2014), Winner of John Gassner Award (2014)
There are 5 Watsons in this play - 4 are active participants and 1 is just mentioned; 3 are ones everyone had heard of, 2 exist only in this play.
The ones we all know are Bell's assistant, Sherlock Holmes' chronicler and the IBM AI which won Jeopardy (this is the one we do not meet); the two we meet here are Watson 2.0 (the next generation of the IBM AI, now in human(-ish) body and Joshua Watson, a boy/man that seem less real that the other one (although he is - or so you should believe, won't you?). But for all these characters, it is not a play about AI or about Watson really.
And alongside the Watsons, there is a multitude of Elizas and Merricks - the rest of the characters in the play. In Victorian England, Merrick is an inventor who is looking for a way to create the best companion, having the characteristics of his own wife while Eliza goes to Sherlock Holmes, worried about her life (and finds Watson instead). In our time, Eliza and Merrick are divorced and she is working on an android who can be the perfect companion and Merrick ends up sending Watson to spy on her. There is a wonderful symmetry between the two story-lines and Madeleine George weaves them together with constant switches between the two times, showing that even of the story is reversed, a lot of it is the same.
Then there is the problematic part - the one too many Watsons -- Bell's assistant. He seems to be there to try to add more to the story of interconnection but something just did not click for me - every time the play went to him, it felt as if we stepped into another story, despite having the same character names. It feels like an addition that is there to help strengthen the story but feels like an ornament which just is too much. I understand why it was added, it moves the play from a love story across the centuries to a more general connection through time and it does not weaken the story but it does not feel part of it either.
The Victorian/21st century double story explores what reality is and what companionship is - and what matters in it. While Eliza and Merrick try to find their way to (or away from) each other, with Watson as the faithful helper (in some weird times sometimes), it all comes down to figuring out what you want in life (and love). And when one Watson knows things he should not (while another Watson should), you are left wondering if there is something more in some names.
An enjoyable play (even with the surplus Watson) and an interesting way to explore what companionship really is. And the fact that the same play can have Holmes's Watson and an android and not feel weird is a testament to the well-done weaving of stories by the author. ( )