Luba

Alison Monique Adnet as Luba

## Appearence

### Clothing

Large fur coat, long purple gloves, pink turban & clear plastic apronLater: Snake-skin long-sleeve top & leggings/skirt

### Seen In

The Elysium Hotel, Ciacco (The Cafe), The Square, The Palladium, The Tenement Area, The Nightclub Office, The Nightclub

### Seen With

Eurydice, Hecuba, Polyxena, Polydorus, Macaria, Polymestor, Hades, Patroclus, The Watchman, Agamemnon, Kampe

## Cast

### Played By

Alison Monique Adnet, Ally Clarke, Eric Jackson Bradley, Fania Grigoriou, Jahmarley Bachelor, Jayla O'Connell, Leal Zielinska, Maya Milet, Omar Gordon, Paul Zivkovich, Stephanie Nightingale, Steven James Apicello

Luba is the worker of The Elysium Hotel, and maid and confidant to Queen Hecuba

Her story arc revolves around her comforting of Hecuba, through the grieving of her children's deaths. She, like several other characters, appears to have some slight awareness of the looping nature of her existence, often staring at her own reflection and the environment around her with a mix of confusion or faint familiarity.

Luba is complicit in the downfall of Polymestor. She protects Hecuba, catching her in the depths of despair, and sows the seed for both the queen’s – and Troy’s  – bloody revenge.

She is both brave in the face of adversity, but clearly fearful that something terrible is soon to happen.

## Loop

*Based on Loop 2*

She begins in the lobby of The Elysium Hotel, sat behind the check-in desk, where she puts on a pair of gloves before swiftly heading across to Ciacco's to collect her fur coat. Passing Hecuba on her throne in The Square, she disappears through the 'Stage Door' in The Palladium. She re-emerges promptly on the Palladium balcony - from here she lip-syncs to Casta Diva from the opera Norma.

## 1:1s

Luba has three '1:1' scenes, including a walk-out.

Depending on the performer, when sat at the check-in desk at reset, she may reach a hand out through the desk window and take a WM's hand to study it carefully, before gently kissing it.

Promptly after her opera performance on the Palladium balcony, she will return to The Elysium Hotel and take a WM into the small broom cupboard, between Hecuba's Bedroom and The Nightclub Office. She will then begin to unravel a red thread from a spool, commenting on the many uses of string, whilst gently wrapping it around the WM's fingers, creating a web-like pattern. As she slowly pulls the string free, she will comment on the beauty of the WM's veins, before suddenly and firmly pushing them backward, by the shoulders, through the back wall of the cupboard, and into a huge spider's web made of the same red thread material. After aggressively bouncing them back on forth on the web, she will spin them vigorously in circles, before warning the WM that "There won't be a web there to catch you next time.". She then quickly wraps the thread around her finger, and presses it into the WM's palm, whispering either "I promise." or "You'll be okay.", before leading them back out into The Elysium Hotel.

The same 1:1 is repeated, following the invasion of Troy, wherein Luba will sprint back up to the broom cupboars, from The Tenement Area.

Finally, upon the conclusion of the Troy Finale, Luba will stand behind a WM and hold them tightly, as sand falls from the sky, showering Hecuba. She will then take their hand and walk them through to Mycenae to watch the finale over there. After the second finale is finished, she will lead them back towards Troy, remove their mask, thank them for coming, and redirect them towards PEEP. *\**

*\* Some performers may lead a WM to the Mycenae Finale, before leaving them there.*

## Trivia

Her opera-singing scene, where she sings from the balcony, originally happened on the ground in the middle of Troy square with her standing on a chair. The song which she sings also changed from during previews to the final show.

Ariadne connection

## Source Material

Luba Luft is a prominent character in Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", the novel that inspired the movie "Blade Runner". The book served as a key influence on the design of the city of Troy, as well as certain costume choices. For example, the Zagreus costume bears a striking resemblance to the character Deckard from the novel.

Luba is a Nexus-6 android, which is the most advanced model of android in the book. She is designed to be an opera singer, and her abilities as a performer are described as extraordinary. In the novel, her performances are so emotionally charged that they bring Deckard (the protagonist) to tears, even though he knows that she is an android.

Luba is living among humans, trying to avoid detection and continue her career as an opera singer. When Deckard is assigned to retire (kill) her and the other rogue androids, she tries to manipulate him by using her singing abilities to evoke empathy and compassion. Deckard finds himself struggling with conflicting emotions, as he is torn between his duty as a bounty hunter and his empathy for the androids.

One interpretation of Luba's character is that she represents a form of subversion and rebellion against the oppressive human society in which the story is set. As an android, she is designed to be a subservient machine, yet she uses her artistic talents and emotions to assert her own agency and to evade capture.

Another interpretation of Luba's character is that she is a representation of the limits of human empathy. Although Deckard is initially moved by her performances and begins to feel empathy for her, he ultimately carries out his duty as a bounty hunter and "retires" her. This can be interpreted as a commentary on the limitations of human empathy and the ability of societal structures to override individual feelings of compassion.

In addition, Luba's character can be seen as an example of the blurred line between humanity and technology. As an advanced android with complex emotions and talents, she challenges the traditional dichotomy between "human" and "machine". This raises questions about the potential for androids to evolve beyond their original programming and to develop their own unique forms of consciousness.