Going down into the basement, where the New Ohio Theater is situated, you can’t help but feel that you are walking into a bomb shelter preparing to hunker down for the apocalypse.  It was a perfect stage to watch SAMUEL & ALASDAIR: A PERSONAL HISTORY OF THE ROBOT WAR, a play set in an alternate history during the Cold War era when America has been totally destroyed by robots.

SAMUEL & ALASDAIR is well crafted, masterfully directed and brilliantly cast.  The show opens with silence.  Three of the four main characters sit quietly in an old radio station in Irkutsk, Russia mentally preparing for their broadcast when Anastasia (played by  Stephanie Wright Thompson) rushes in, distraught, announces that the trains have been “fully suspended”.  She gains her composure as The Host (played by Joe Curnette), nods in acknowledgment, flips on the radio console and signals Tumbleweed, the musician (played by Michael Dalto) to play the radio show’s theme. The Host turns to the microphone, puts on a toothy smile and begins the broadcast with “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.” thus setting the counter balanced tone for the rest of the show. 

SAMUEL & ASDAIR presents a subtle look at how entertainers react when they are shut away from the world that they are trying to entertain during a major crisis.   As the broadcast goes on, each of the character’s inner thoughts, fears and hopes are revealed.   Not through bold proclamations, but through the radio program itself. Dr. Romanav (played by Marc Bovino ) delivers dialog during one of the radio show's segments that smacks you with the weight of the characters current situation in a humorous yet ominous way. It becomes clear that they might not make it out of the radio station alive.  All of the creative pieces of this production come together to create an experience that is entertaining and unnerving.

SAMUEL & ASDAIR: A PERSONAL HISTORY OF THE ROBOT WAR, is the perfect treat, infused with just the right amount of drama, humor and suspense, that will leave audience members satisfied.

“Samuel & Alasdair: A Personal History of the Robot War continues through Saturday at the New Ohio Theater, 154 Christopher Street, West Village; (212) 675-6446, newohiotheatre.org.