"Zebra 2.0" by Saviana Stanescu is a Sci-fi rom-com that engages questions of artificial intelligence, humanity, immigration, belonging, simulation, and consciousness through the uncanny friendship of an undocumented woman in the USA and an A.I. who counts zebras.

We – and ‘Zina’ – first meet ‘Al’ as it analyzes pixels in crowdsourced photographs of zebras, able to communicate with a human user in very basic ways and existing solely on a large computer monitor on the stage. As the two start interacting, over the course of 50 nights, Al and Zina learn from and change each other, opening up more and more and swirling us through questions of consciousness, language, love, the nature of existence, how humans treat each other, and whether two misfits can find fulfillment in this crazy, mixed-up world. As this intimate rom-com moves towards its climax, the characters become gradually subsumed into a romantic-comedy film, projected in the playing space, where they can finally meet “IRL” - In Real Life.

"Zebra 2.0" has now been selected for ICE FACTORY 2023 at the New Ohio theatre in New York City. The ICE FACTORY presentation of this evolving project is co-produced by AnomalousCo, a predominantly queer/woman-led, feminist, transdisciplinary performance collective, and Wistaria Project.

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