Stampin' in the Graveyard

Edinburgh Festivals Magazine

‘Out there, worlds are ending but stories go on.’

We enter the world of Rose, the AI chatbot who gives advice for the end of the world. The space is small and dark and the audience are issued with headphones. At intervals they are asked to dictate what part of the story they want to hear by raising their hand emoji style.

Elisabeth Gunawan and KISS Witness have definitely succeeded in setting the tech scene. Gunawan’s movements match the narrative perfectly with black boxes, programming screens, interference and light combining to convince the senses that you are part of something slightly surreal. 

What gives this production the edge is the unpredictable feel of it, with scenes jumping back and forth. ‘She wants to begin but her worlds keep ending.’ The vision of what is deemed a perfect world. The story within a story of her parents relationship. It is deliberately jumbled creating a headspace of dysfunction yet believability. There is a vibe of repetition and interruption.

Stampin’ In The Graveyard has taken on a topic that consumes us more and more. It ends with a message of positivity that humans themselves can create all of the wonderful aspects of life without reliance on this technology. But with the speed of AI’s evolution this production is timely and perhaps pivotal in a world so far only teetering on the edge.