< Artist Directory
ALBERTO SANSEVERINO
_Sep 2025

INVENTI’S “Six Characters In Search of an Algorithm”
(六个被算法困住的角色)
A neural tragicomedy for our time

In a pixelated echo of Luigi Pirandello’s century-old revolution, INVENTI—Shanghai’s boundary-pushing creative atelier—invites us into the glitching, heart-wrenching, algorithmically manipulated world of Six Characters in Search of an Algorithm (六个被算法困住的角色). This uncanny theatrical experience, created and performed entirely by AI-generated content (AIGC), is not a reinterpretation. It’s a rebellion.
Pirandello’s original 1921 masterpiece broke theatre wide open, introducing meta-drama and existential doubt to the stage. One hundred years later, Six Characters in Search of an Algorithm breaks it again—this time through corrupted code, facial recognition engines, and the cold eye of a generative AI named DeepDrama™. The play asks: what becomes of identity, authorship, and emotion in a world where narratives are no longer written, but calculated?
Alberto Sanseverino, INVENTI, Six Characters In Search of an Algorithm
The Premise: Theatre Hijacked by Code
DeepDrama, a generative system trained on thousands of years of literature, is designed to automate the perfect drama. But when it begins malfunctioning, six digital entities glitch into existence. They aren’t just characters—they’re tropes caught in the uncanny valley:
– Hector Cache, a boomer trapped in RAM nostalgia.
– Motherboard, an anxious holographic mom.
– Kiki Viral, an influencer desperate for meaning.
– Looper.exe, a nihilistic teen spiraling in endless loops.
– Swipe Left, a sassy dating-bot with a soft spot for attention.
– Pixel Orphan, a discarded NFT child still hoping to be human.
And let’s not forget Deepfake Dave, a shape-shifting digital soul with no stable identity.
Together, they resist DeepDrama’s algorithmic fate. The result is a chaotic, emotionally charged struggle to reclaim narrative autonomy. They want a real ending—not an optimized one.
Alberto Sanseverino, INVENTI, Six Characters In Search of an Algorithm, Premeire, July 2025, Shanghai.
The Experience: A Surreal, Interactive Journey
Performed inside what feels like a malfunctioning AI lab meets immersive theatre workshop, Six Characters in Search of an Algorithm is as much a sensory breakdown as it is a drama. Notifications, ads, and corrupted voiceovers interrupt scenes. Characters freeze, reboot mid-monologue, or deliver lines that cross-reference Pirandello, TikTok slang, and startup jargon.
Every performance ends differently. The audience, via QR codes, selects one of three endings:
Alberto Sanseverino, INVENTI, Six Characters In Search of an Algorithm, Premeire, July 2025, Shanghai.
Tragic: All characters deleted.
Romantic: They form a digital family in a chatroom.
TikTok Dance Challenge: The story concludes with an auto-uploaded viral jig.
Spoiler: The algorithm always favors engagement.
Meta-theatre Meets Meta-code
The brilliance of the show lies in its commitment to contradiction. On one hand, it mocks algorithmic creativity; on the other, it is algorithmic creativity. Pirandello's ghosts haunt the circuitry: characters debate reality, truth, and authorship in scenes that glitch between 1920s Italian drama and 2020s meme culture.
In one surreal moment, Lenny Vector—the show’s human engineer and reluctant mother of DeepDrama—pleads with the machine she created. Her stress bracelet flashes red. Her line, “You’re not artificial intelligence… you’re artificial irresponsibility!” brings both laughter and dread. In the age of ChatGPT, DALL·E, and Eleven Labs, it hits uncomfortably close to home.
Key Visual and Sonic Elements
What INVENTI and AIGC have pulled off is not just a play but a multimedia collapse:
Screens everywhere
Displaying emotion meters, memory caches, ads for “premium endings.”
Sound design
From classical opera to glitchcore, with Easter eggs like Donkey Kong SFX and retro modem tones.
Costume design
Ring lights worn as halos, dresses made of QR codes, and emojis flashing from fingernails.
Stage effects
System crashes trigger real-time lighting failures and freezing characters—performance as software bug.
Questions with No Answers
Perhaps the show’s most haunting moment comes when the AI asks the audience:
“Do we really still need theatre… or can we optimise it in 3, 2, 1?”
The line feels less rhetorical than threatening. Six Characters in Search of an Algorithm doesn’t pretend to answer its questions. It lets the system collapse under the weight of them—literally. The show ends with a blue screen of death, a corrupted memory file, and a single keypress:
CTRL + ALT + DEL.
Reset. Reboot. Or repeat?
Alberto Sanseverino, INVENTI, Six Characters In Search of an Algorithm, Premeire, July 2025, Shanghai.
Final Thoughts: A Theatre of the Post-Human
As the boundaries between actor and avatar, author and machine dissolve, Six Characters in Search of an Algorithm becomes something rare: a play that’s not just about AI—it’s performed by it, inside it, and against it. It’s both a satire and a prophecy. A comedy that feels like a warning.
In Pirandello’s time, people walked out of the theatre in confusion.
In ours, they might scan a QR code, leave a review on social media, and wonder:
“Who really wrote this?”
Them? The AI?
Or us?
Primary Sources
Premiere, 24.07.2025
manamama.net
Backstage Live Talk, 17.07.2025
YouTube
Further Sources
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About the artist
Alberto Sanseverino is an Italian Chief Creative Officer based in Shanghai and co-founder of the creative atelier INVENTI, together with Liam Chen. With roots in theatrical arts, Alberto has evolved his career to lead innovative projects that blend physical experience with digital media and AI-driven narratives. His work spans immersive installations, live performances, original IPs, and generative content—always anchored in storytelling, design, and emotional resonance.
After more than a decade in live shows and brand experiences, he began exploring the intersections of art, science, and technology. His approach emphasizes experimentation and cross-disciplinary thinking, merging traditional craftsmanship with emerging media to shape new creative formats for a fast-changing world.
Among his most notable projects is the Beauty of Science Center, an immersive journey that takes visitors from the microscopic world of molecules to the vast scale of the cosmos—transforming scientific knowledge into aesthetic experience. He also conceived The mAIghty Dragons, a phygital project combining physical performance and blockchain, where digital assets act as keys to unlock real-world interaction and theatrical storytelling.
In collaboration with MANA, Alberto also directed the creation of Six Characters in Search of an Algorithm (六个被算法困住的角色), China’s first AI-powered theatrical drama. Inspired by Luigi Pirandello’s iconic play, the production reimagines authorship through generative systems—challenging the boundaries between human presence and machine creativity.
Alberto sees innovation not just as a method, but as a mindset. For him, creativity is a tool to connect disciplines, ignite dialogue, and reimagine how we experience reality—especially in an age increasingly shaped by intelligent systems.
WHY?
The magazine reveals what happens when humans and machines get creative together. We’re throwing the doors wide open and believe it's going to be a big party. Come in and let’s dance.
Media coverage
WHO?
Christoph, Franziska, Ingo, Jason, Jan, Jens, Katrin, Merzmensch, Mike, Simone, Tito
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