Review: SPåR (THE ANTIQUITIES) at Playhouseteater

*Spår* (*The Antiquities*) is a play by Jordan Harrison that premiered off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in January 2025.

The plot is set in the near future at the Museum of Late Human Antiquities,.

We are welcomed by the museum’s curators with the words: "Thank you for coming. It’s a pleasure to see you! Welcome to the guided tour of the permanent exhibition at the  Museum of Late Human Antiquities."

The tour takes us through the museum, featuring 30 brief snapshots of human history, beginning in 1812. We encounter Mary Shelley on an outing with friends, who challenge her to tell a story about a monster; she then invents the tale of Frankenstein, who creates a new human being who step by step learns to act as a human.. The journey then leaps forward in time—covering industrialization and a worker losing fingers in a machine, an early robot, and the first computer—before arriving at the present day with AI, and finally extending into the future to the year 2240, where AI has taken over and humanity is on the brink of extinction.

This play is highly relevant, to say the least, given the crossroads we face regarding AI. Is the near-future scenario depicted in the play unrealistic? The way it weaves together various snapshots of technological progress—alongside humanity’s fascination with that evolution and the drive to accelerate it—makes the scenario feel frighteningly plausible. One smiles in recognition at the scene featuring a family installing their first computer and the time it takes to connect to the internet; at the same time, one realizes how rapidly things have moved since then, to the point where we now accept being constantly connected. AI is increasingly integrated into our daily lives and workplaces. So, how far off is the next step—where AI takes over? 

The many time jumps occur seamlessly, and—without giving too much away—the beginning and end of the play are woven together ingeniously. All the small snapshots in time suddenly take on a larger context. An incredibly well-conceived play.

Nine actors portray the various characters appearing in these brief snapshots in time. Period-appropriate costumes and minimal props evoke the atmosphere of the specific year each scene represents. The actors skillfully slip in and out of their various roles; at times, the illusion is so convincing that it feels as though there are more than just nine of them.

Playhouse Teater’s unique concept is to stage new British and American plays, and once again, they have discovered a real gem.

Without a doubt, *Spår* is the most interesting play currently showing in Stockholm—a production that stays with you long after you leave and one you simply want to tell others about.

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