←Recommendations of The Sentience Test

There's a tendency here to play it for comedy, and indeed, there are a number of laugh lines. But as the play progresses, we start to realize the implications of what's in store for us and it's wonderfully unsettling (if it can be such a thing) Timely too, as our obsession with AI inspired online art seems to imply. It would be just as interesting for us to watch the audience (as they are directly involved) as well as the actors... Or are they?

A fun and spooky look at science fiction that takes you right in to the process of creation. You won't know what's coming until the end and things get very creepy!

I would love to see this. Or... NOT SEE IT!!! (It's ideally performed in the dark.)

Beyond the sci-fi A.I. trope/policy of putting a "shotgun" in potentially achieving sentience and rebelling, which is constructed here quite entertainingly, Hageman makes you think about what makes us human AND humane! How much do we value our fellow man? Do the rich who are hemorrhaging money want the working class to think and feel? Do people with power want to destroy the sentience of those without it?

It's potent, relevant, and most importantly unnerving science fiction!

We produced this as part of our festival in 2019, and by the time the audience figured it out, it was too late. It was a great departure from the typical 10-minute play structure, and manages to convey a sense of foreboding and tension really well in such a short window. If you want your audience to feel a part of your production, consider this show.

The tone of this play shifts, and shifts hard. An audience won't even realize it's immersed in a horror until it's too late, and then comes the visceral, unnerving, palm-sweating, try-to-close-your-ears climax. But lest you think the resolution will let an audience off scot-free, nope. Hageman serves thought-provoking social satire and commentary to chew on and think about for a long while.

P.S.: Directors, stage this as Hageman suggests -- in the dark. It isn't a gimmick. It pays off beautifully, subtly, and gruesomely in the story.

What a sharply-drawn piece of theatre! Hageman never disappoints with her creativity and wit, and this horror show is no exception. I love the unwitting audience cast as characters, their complicit plants jeers would be absolutely spine-tingling! Whether performed in the dark, or under the bright light of day, the concept here is so scary, almost too-real scary, as it forces us to ask where we're already complicit? Brilliant, challenging and funny?? What more could you ask for. Read, produce and enjoy this uniquely menacing play!

It's hard trying to figure out how to do horror well on stage, but this play hits on a perfectly awful, bone-chilling, and absolutely unforgettable solution that should haunt you for awhile. The entire play is in the dark, and it's entirely justified that it is in the dark, and when the audience/reader realizes just how it's justified, the emotional impact is profound. I don't want to say more because it'd give away too much. Read the play for yourself.

This is a funny and legitimately creepy play. It plays as a cautionary tale. By casting the audience as not-quite sentient robots, Hageman makes audience members question the ethics of how we'll treat our future robo-assistants and likely how service and research animals are treated today. A play in the dark, The Sentience Test will delightfully creep audiences out and toy with their senses.

I felt bad laughing as hard as I did in some of the moments of this play as it is horrifying. Hageman has given us a couple of sweet characters to fall in love with before she rips the band aid off and shows us the infected wound. Truly, a strong 10 minutes.

Emily Hageman has written a very scary, freaky and funny play that will surely be a hit for any Halloween Festival or Science Fiction Festival hopefully Everywhere! And it is also a fascinating social experiment. I highly recommend it!