“Kiet” in Prince Gomolvillas’ ARTIFICIAL, directed by Peter J. Kuo at Boise Contemporary Theatre’s 2024 BIPOC Festival

I had a fantastic time working on a staged reading of Prince Gomolvilas’ brilliant new play ARTIFICAL, directed by my fellow Theatre Communications Group Rising Leader of Color Peter J. Kuo. Boise Contemporary Theatre’s annual BIPOC Festival champions emerging and mid-career playwrights by connecting exceptional works with professional actors, directors, and technicians. The festival gives playwrights of color the chance to workshop their script during the week with a director and full cast. Hearing their words read out loud by professional actors provides valuable feedback. The festival culminates in staged readings of their scripts. This experience helps inform their work, building the careers of playwrights of color, so they can keep telling their stories.

ARTIFICIAL
By Prince Gomolvilas
Directed by Peter J. Kuo

After a failed career in standup comedy, Simon has taken a soul-sucking job as an AI engineer at his younger brother Jetsada’s thriving chatbot company. But when the artistic bug bites again,Simon leverages the company’s AI technology to write jokes, and he hits open mic nights once again—much to Jetsada’s dismay. The sparring brothers’ sibling rivalry reaches epic proportions in this timely yet timeless exploration of a fractured Thai-American family, the uneasy intersection of art and technology, and the question of what it means to be human in the modern age. And yes, this synopsis was written by ChatGPT…. Or was it?

SAT, 8/24 at 7 PM: Staged Reading of Artificial by Prince Gomolvilas

Cast

Jully Lee* (Casey/Nin)
Tommy Bo* (Jetsada)
David Huynh* (Simon)
Ariel Estrada* (Kiet)
Julyana Soelistyo* (Lawan)
Stage Manager – Jessica Ires Morris*