Against

by Christopher Shinn

seen at the Almeida Theatre on 9 September 2017

Ian Rickson directs Ben Whishaw in this new play which investigates the ills of modern society through the mission of Luke, an IT billionaire, to 'go where the violence is'. Early in his 'project' he meets the parents of a young mass-murderer, hoping to discover something about the violence and perhaps to help them come to terms with it. In later developments, we see more of the people reacting to his 'project', rather than their direct interactions with him - indeed Luke becomes, against his will, something of a celebrity figure as his journeys across America are followed by the media.

The play has some excellent and perceptive episodes, but they do not create a coherent whole; our attention is fractured by too many ideas jostling for attention. Should we be concentrating on Luke's own personal journey, redolent of the narcissism of the over-articulate but socially uneasy privileged white American male? His problematic relations with Sheila (Amanda Hale), his assistant and would-be lover, are reminiscent of many crises of self-confidence. Should we rather invest in the queasy encounters between Anna (Emma D'Arcy) and her creative-writing Professor (Kevin Harvey), in which his attempts to mentor her turn all too quickly into a dominating need to push his own agenda? Or should we focus on the grim working environment at 'Equator' (standing in for the soulless distribution warehouses of companies such as Amazon) where Tracey (Adelle Leonce) and Melvyn (Elliot Barnes-Worrell) gingerly try to turn casual sex into a meaningful encounter? In the meantime the CEO of 'Equator' (Kevin Harvey again) gives a chillingly plausible spiel for 'collaborative purchasing' which could well feature in the IT pages of the world's press any time soon.

From all this it can be seen that the play covers a lot of ground, but in doing so loses its way, or rather, shows that it does not really have a clear path through all the issues. We see Luke's idealism; we see also the damage it can cause. We see the navel-gazing of the academy and its petulant refusal to engage properly with people outside it; we see the demeaning nature of warehouse work and the easy way in which exploitation shifts into the invasion of personal space; but somehow these themes seem to get in the way of each other.

The play is well cast, well directed, well designed; very little distracts from the arguments and conflicts being presented. Ben Whishaw gives a nuanced performance; his Luke has the nervous mannerisms of an entitled man whose mixture of determination and uncertainty leads him out of his depth. One can understand why such a figure would appear attractive at a distance, but be disconcerting at close quarters. Likewise, in the vignettes at Equator, we see real tension and entrapment. Elsewhere some scenes seem more purely satirical, or they can be rather opaque (the parents of the young mass-murderer are rather too obviously picked up and dropped at the convenience of the playwright).

It's an interesting but not entirely successful play, enhanced by its cast and direction.