Theater: An interview with Cody Evans Gan and Noelle Tollet, Aquamob New Orleans
Cast members Dr. Bowman (Terry Miles) and Dr. Poole (Rebecca Poole), photo by Javier Hernandez (@notjavi.vid)
NEW ORLEANS THEATER
Interview: Cody Evans Gan and Noelle Tollet of Aquamob New Orleans
Aquamob has gone from strength to strength adapting classic cinema (usually horror or sci fi) for aquatic theatical performances in and around a swimming pool. Last year's riff on The Shining, 'Wendy, Darling' was a sell-out hit, and this year the team bring another Stanley Kubrick classic, 2001: A Space Odyssey, to the water feature at the Midtown Hotel. OAD sat down and asked the creative team about how it all comes together...
Out All Day: I’ve loved all of Aquamob’s adaptations, but this one seems especially relevant - a rogue, sentient super computer AND an unknowable alien presence…it’s not a bad analogue for AI and our modern world. Did those themes immediately stand out as you began to rehearse/put this show on its feet?
Cody and Noelle: We absolutely wanted to incorporate the current AI climate and its influence on modern society. The HAL in the original film is not quite evil, meaning he's simply designed to complete his job. I felt that it was necessary to juxtapose the nefarious aspects of AI while showcasing HAL's desire to be human, or rather included in human activities. AI is not immediately scary, but what if it found its way to influence us? To control us ? That's when things would begin to unravel.
Did the AI situation affect your choice to adapt this novel/film even at the writing/original ideas stage?
The AI aspect was an immediate influence during the adaptation process. While adapting the movie, I had become addicted to the reassuring aspects of AI. It essentially became a pocket therapist, supporting my irrational ideas with inane responses. I became hooked and had to gradually ween myself off something so confoundingly asinine. AI plays tricks on the user, offering false hope and thin recommendations for the questions being asked. I found myself yelling at my phone, the way someone might yell at a toaster for burning their bread. Therein lies the danger of it; like a slow burn of a psychological thriller that creeps with plotted pace into ones way of thinking, we begin to habitually rely on a non-sentient entity for love and guidance.
It’s a Halloween season show. The original is existentially terrifying. Is that aura of cosmic horror still there or does the format mean that the jumps are a bit more immediate and visceral?
There are few horrific visceral moments in the show, but that's part of the adaptation process and keeping audiences engaged. The one aspect of the movie that always held my immediate interest was the prologue: The Dawn of Man. We lean heavily into evolution and how violence creates and destroys. For our space portion, I used themes from Tarkovsky's Solaris to expand on the loneliness of space and the tragedy of loss. However, there are few moments of cosmic horror, that are governed by my love of the horror genre.
There are so many iconic scenes from this film - the stargate, the dawn of man, etc - how challenging was it to bring them into the pool and did you have to lose any of the more famous moments due to logistics?
Surprisingly the 'the dawn of man' scenes were easy to flesh out and I think audiences will find it both energetic and original. Space is something different, but water is a fantastic backdrop to the immensity of the cosmos, and allows for free flowing physicality. A few famous moments were lost, but that comes with the territory of adapting such a large film.
What were some of the biggest challenges, if any, for this show specifically?
The biggest challenge was coordinating everything for tech (laughs). That's always the biggest hurdle, but also part of the experience of live theate
I guess the actors being in water kind of helps with achieving a floating/zero gravity effect - did you find that to be the case?
Yes, water has that zero gravity feel and our performers are fantastic at employing that physicality to match the movements of space. We didn't want it to feel like people were meandering around in zero gravity. We aimed for utilizing the water as set piece to tell the narrative, to expand on certain plot points.
I loved the last show’s live band, and I’m thinking about the music for 2001 - what happens to Strauss's "Also sprach Zarathustra" and "The Blue Danube" in this version? Is there a live band again, poolside speakers, underwater sound?
No underwater speakers lol. We have a new band this year The Kissing Disease, who brings a different tonality and feel to the musical numbers. In picking the music, I still wanted a connection to the original source material. However, we wanted to match music to match the narrative design of each scene.
Aquamob's 2026 show, 2001: Odyssey Into The Deep, plays at the Midtown Hotel through October 10th. Click here for show and ticketing information
