Stare Into the Red Eyes of the 'Giant Invisible Robot'

The destructive Giant Invisible Robot makes for such a beautiful metaphor for the loneliness of a man striving to be more human after having survived painful traumas. Jayson McDonald, a London, Ontario-based writer, director and performer, who plays at least five distinct personalities in his comedic one-man show, [Giant Invisible Robot], is a master of atmosphere and mood, and effectively transports us from scene to scene using exacting sound effects and gesticulations that most actors would never think to bother with—like exploding potions in a scientist’s lab and an adorable little boy’s rendition of Darth Vader’s breathing problem.  He also does wonderful renditions of women.

The most beautiful part of the whole show is when you actually “see” the giant in the dark, with its red glowing eyes. OK, fine, you have to imagine some parts of it, but there are other parts you really do see. McDonald does such an amazing job of expressing so much with so little—standing on a chair with just two red lights in his hands and a robot voice in the dark—that you feel like the robot is actually right before you. His computer-like voice, the echoes and the crazy cadences of his sentences are hilarious and emotionally riveting, and they all come from the vocal cords of one man without any high-tech special effects.  There is such care put into even how the red eyes move, like when they dip with subtlety as if in sadness.  And there before you, is a sensitive, compelling giant robot telling his life story of loneliness.  You discover you are in an ocean with him.  And it really feels like it.

The robot play is related using no machinery at all (except the red lights), and with just a man and a few props, and epitomizes what a successful, small show in a fringe venue should hope to capture.

Giant Invisible Robot is a show in the Frigid Festival and will be performed on Mon 3/3 @ 7:30pm, Wed 3/5 @ 6pm, Thu 3/6 @ 9pm, Sat 3/8 4pm at Under St. Mark’s on 94 St. Mark’s Place (bet 1st Ave. and Ave. A)