First Night Review - 2001: An Odyssey Into the Deep

Terry Miles as Dr Bowman in Aquamob NOLA's 2001: An Odyssey Into the Deep (photo: Javier Hernandez/@notjavi.vid)

---

Splashdown in space: Aquamob return with 2001: An Odyssey Into the Deep
Review by Todd Perley

Aquamob did it again, y'all, once more dipping into the Kubrick well. Last year’s “Wendy, Darling”, a sendup of The Shining was bloody hilarious (emphasis on the ‘bloody’) and I’ve been waiting impatiently for a year for their next blood-soaked, satirical, musical water ballet.

We begin with rival gangs of screeching hominids fighting (and dancing) in the pool, crawling out onto land and continuing their frenzied battle. If you’re in the front row, you’re in the splash zone, so choose your seat depending on your preference, and caveat emptor.

My companions got pool water and monkey blood all over them, an evolutionary Gallagher-esque treat. The creatures find the monolith and learn the lessons of tools and weapons, and one small ape,
played by an adorable little girl of about ten years, uses a stray femur to beat another ape to death. I’m always happy to see children enjoying their bludgeoning.

If audiences of Stanley Kubrick’s film in 1968 were confused by the surreal messages meant to ask more questions than they answer, today’s audience will have the same opportunity to interpret Aquamob’s atmospheric tale. (Who says space can’t have an atmosphere?).

Though the film is heavy and long, there’s really very little plot or dialogue, you may recall, which opens up all sorts of avenues for interpretation and satire. I would recommend refreshing yourself to
the source material. This assignment should be a joy, as the film is just so good, and when’s the
last time you saw it anyway?

To bring things into the 21st century, the HAL-9000 (and AI in general) is on the table for discussion. Creators Cody Evans Gan and Noelle Tollet do not treat this complicated subject in facile black-and-white. AI is neither ‘good’ nor ‘bad’, but nuanced between how it can serve, and the danger of humans relying on it too much. Dr. Bowman (Terry Miles) and Dr. Poole (Rebecca Poole) grapple with HAL’s usefulness and traitorous behavior.

Cody Keech appears in a couple roles to give much-needed exposition in amusing ways, first as a Tucker Carlson/Max Headroom-type idiot reporter, and later as the recording the astronauts were supposed to hear once they landed on Jupiter which explains HAL’s conflicted motivation.

The cast is dedicated ... and soooo numerous, with about 30 people performing as actors or damp (and bloody) ballet dancers. The use of water as a Zero-G environment is effective and hilarious. The band The Kissing Disease plays The Doors and David Bowie as well as they play Strauss’s “Also Sprach Zarathustra” made iconic in Kubrick’s film (but now on electric guitars).

And there’s a pole dance worthy of Cirque du Soleil on a bizarre contraption neither I nor anyone seated near me had seen before. Yes, I asked everyone around me at intermission, “What IS that thing?” Shrugs, with smiles.

Funny, rockin’, and surprisingly thought-provoking, it’s difficult to say who’s having more fun: the players, or the audience. When the ten year old girl emerges again at the end, held aloft as the Starchild wrapped in umbilical cords and finger-booping Dr. Bowman, the audience roared.

Nobody is doing what Aquamob is doing, and if someone tried, chances are slim they’d pull it off as expertly as this company. I’m going to have another long, fidgety year awaiting the next time they open their pod bay doors, HAL. If we’re sticking with Stanley Kubrick next year, might I suggest Eyes Wide Shut? That could be filthy and absurd.

2001: An Odyssey Into the Deep plays at the Midtwon Hotel through October 10th. Click here for show and ticketing information