The Trial of Romeo Oscar review – Ayckbourn goes back to the future with android accused of murder

Stephen Joseph theatre, Scarborough The playwright explores our relationship with technology, asks if robots have souls and even questions the value of art in this sci-fi courtroom drama For play number 92, Alan Ayckbourn returns to his preoccupation of exploring where we as a species are heading through a science-fiction lens.

He goes back to the future.

In The Trial of Romeo Oscar, the playwright famed for his domestic comedies looks to the year 2194 when humans have spread about the galaxy and androids live alongside us.

One of them, RSDO83, is on trial for the murder of a teenage girl in his charge.

This is Ayckbourn philosophising about the future of humanity as we sit at an obvious inflection point, asking what this moment in our relationship with technology means and where it will lead us.

The questions running through the play are manifold, complex and echo those asked by sci-fi writers for decades: can robots hurt humans? Do they have souls? He is also questioning the value of art and even its purpose.

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