Group Prompt

Reviewed by Laura Van Alphen

The vibe of Group Prompt is experimental. 

When you walk into the performance space, you are given an audience guide with a QR code and instructions on how to participate. There is an air of excitement and uncertainty in the room—it’s not clear what will happen next. Then the artist takes the stage, sets her timer, and begins. 

This is Group Prompt, a completely spontaneous human–AI collaboration. Throughout the 20-minute running time, audience members submit anonymous prompts to an AI generator that combines the ideas and turns them into a script. The artist then receives this script via an earpiece and performs it in real time.

The performance was expressive and polished, an impressive feat, knowing that the actor was receiving the script in real time. And the audience clearly became more invested as the performance went on, reaching for their phones to see what AI would make of their prompts. I sent in the word “rhyme”; I wondered whether a rhyming poem would be created, but instead it became a monologue about the use of rhythm and rhyme. 

And then it was over. We were left to think about the experience, the way AI had taken our ideas and shaped them, and the way a human performer had communicated these ideas back to us. 

Because the content of the performance is completely uncertain, Group Prompt is recommended for mature audiences (18+). The audience guide includes information about after-care and mental health support. There are further instructions that if the technology fails, both the audience and the performer will sit together in silence to “witness the awkwardness of a performance gone awry” to show the unpredictability of technology. 

Check out this ever-changing, audience-driven experience!

Event Details

Mini Bar $8

Age Suitability: Mature (ages 18+)

Genre: Theatre—Drama, Sketch Comedy/Improv, Storytelling/Solo Show

Run Time: 20 mins

Creative Head

Amanda Tkacyk

Warnings

Sexual Content, Coarse Language, Other

This is a co-created unscripted performance that may discuss sensitive topics or themes.