Your Name Means Dream by José Rivera

TheaterWorks-Hartford

By: Karen Isaacs - Jun 15, 2025

 

Is this the future? Elderly people “cared for” by artificial intelligence humanoids?

That’s the vision of playwright José Rivera, who also directed Your Name Means Dream at TheaterWorks-Hartford through Sunday, July 6.

Unfortunately, while a valiant effort, the play suffers from multiple flaws, including trying to do too much while also lacking a clear point.

It is 2050, and Aislin is aging in her small East Village apartment. She has gone through a succession of human caregivers, so her estranged son has signed up for a pilot program to provide her with Stacy, an artificial intelligence humanoid. Stacy will learn to connect with Aislin, and when Aislin dies, Stacy’s “brain” will be destroyed.

We learn surprisingly little about Aislin except that she likes to use the f-bomb; what we do learn seems disconnected to the woman we see on the stage. We are told she was a Human Resources Manager for a midtown bank, but it doesn’t seem likely. We learn that she is estranged from her son and grandchild, that she lives in the same small apartment where her husband died of a heart attack, and that she likes to drink.

She is not a particularly sympathetic character as played by Annie O’Sullivan.

Her initial interaction with Stacy is testy – she is insulted that she has a non-human caregiver, and she doubts Stacy’s ability. Stacy is an almost stereotypical robot that interprets things literally and moves in jerky, unpredictable ways. When Aislin says she is beautiful, Stacy wonders what the word means.

Because Stacy will be destroyed when Aislin dies, she tries to improve her health and nutrition. She urges her to go off her various medications, claims she can evaluate her body chemistry, and throws away most of Aislin’s food because it is unhealthy. Aislin, of course, objects, particularly when Stacy puts the liquor in the garbage.

Act Two, finds the discussion moving on to other topics, including whether Stacy can achieve an “approximation of soul?” And what that is. Stacy also bullies Aislin, particularly when she transforms into Aislin’s son. It seems that Stacy becomes whoever Aislin wants to telephone. The son, Roberto, who sounds like he came directly from Goodfellas.

The title refers to Aislin meaning Dream in Gaelic. However, how does that relate to the play?

One of the more confusing parts of the play is the abrupt shifts in genre. At times, it seems like it is a riff on the odd couple roommates trope. There’s a hint of Thelma & Louise when Aislin wants Stacy to hack into her son’s computer. At other times, it is a black comedy or a philosophical debate about humanity.  Or is it dystopian sci-fi ?

The playwright/director, in his notes, asks, “Can Aislin build the daughter she never had?”  An intriguing idea, but one that did not reveal itself in the play.

In addition, to the multiple f-bombs, we also learn that Stacy eats Aislin’s poop to determine her microbiome. We also hear about Stacy’s earlier incarnation as a sex worker. It was TMI – too much information.

Sara Koviak plays Stacy, a very physical role. She is thoroughly vested in the part, even if the audience is puzzled. In Act Two, she has a long scene in which she performs a series of dance moves and exercises. Why, I was never sure, but it did feel endless. Koviak has to incorporate jerky and idiosyncratic movements with more natural (or human) movements. Since they are sporadic, they are a puzzle.

Annie O’Sullivan manages to mostly bring together the disparate facets of the character. She manages the sometimes-dramatic shifts in Aislin’s mood, making them as realistic and believable as possible.

Misha Kachman has created a realistic run-down apartment, and Risa Ando, the costume designer, provides Stacy with a space-age form-fitting costume and Aislin with a disheveled look.

Rivera has directed his work; sometimes, newer works require the fresh perspective of others to help identify and correct issues in the script. This is a co-production with Theatre J in Washington, DC, where it ran before coming to Hartford.

Though the plot idea is both interesting and disturbing, the work itself seems scattered.

Tickets are available at TWHartford.org.

This content is courtesy of Shore Publications and Zip06.com