Ocean Lakes Theatre Company (OLTC) presents “The A.I. Play” as their annual one-act play.
“The A.I. Play” follows a girl named Eleanor who uses artificial intelligence, referred to as “chatbot” throughout the show, to cheat on her paper. Because her paper was so well written, Eleanor gets admitted into a school for geniuses; however, she soon discovers that all of the students there also used chatbots to create exceptional essays.
“My favorite part of the play is during the escape from the school, particularly because the character Joe-Bob rolls around on the ground, and it always gets a lot of laughs,” junior Eleanor Strader said, who plays the characters of Vulcan and Miss Wright.
OLTC performed “The A.I. Play” at the VHSL One-Act Play 5A Regionals Tournament on Feb. 10, 2025, at Salem High School, where they placed third. Additionally, juniors Grace Kavanaugh and Griffon Yetter received Outstanding Actors Awards for their performances.
“I am so happy with the show that we brought and the way in which we competed,” theatre director Claude Blanchard said.
Rehearsals for the play began in December, and adjustments continued to be made until the day of the performance, according to Eleanor.
“Rehearsing every day is what truly made the show and allowed me to play the character and make more choices,” Grace said. “Once I was familiar with the character, I was able to experiment with being an A.I. chatbot and bringing my character to life.”
Classes will have the opportunity to watch OLTC perform “The A.I. Play” on March 6, 2025, throughout all four blocks.
“From the acting, to the costuming, the props, the stage management, the technical elements, to the hair and makeup, this ensemble really brought it and represented OLHS and OLTC with class and the best sportsmanship,” Blanchard said. “We absolutely cannot wait to share this show with the Founder’s Week audiences.”
