Helen Keen: Robot Woman of Tomorrow

Having come of age in coastal Yorkshire, bookish Helen Keen once dreamt of a day in which she had ready access to a supply of hot water. As an alienated virgin, she longed to be whisked off her feet by a jet pack-wearing space hunk. More recently, years spent working as an office temp caused her to pray for a War of the Worlds invasion to end the tedium of her life.

Once fixated on the future, Helen seems to have finally reached a state of contentment. She's visibly delighted to have drawn a full house this afternoon and addresses the audience with great enthusiasm. To her right is a robot named Enormo Maiden, allegedly a nickname from the performer's youth. Behind her is a projection of Albert Robida's 19^th century lithograph 'Going to the Opera in the Year 2000'. In keeping with the theme of the show, she clutches a clipboard wrapped in tin foil. If Robot Woman of the Future falls short in the number of laughs it delivers, it at least excels in goofy, lo-fi appeal.

Essentially an amusing meditation on the concepts of optimism and reality, there are some genuinely thought provoking moments during the hour, the irrepressible Keen declining to laugh at an inventor of robot sex dolls and instead considering his goals with compassion and empathy. Elsewhere, she ropes the audience into a surprisingly engaging game of 'futurist or felon' and puts on a lovingly constructed shadow puppet show.