Second Stage Theatre
New York
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How pleasant to encounter “a new play with an actual brain in its head,” said Marilyn Stasio in Variety. The premise—a principled young Asian-American politician is forced to confront his checkered past—so easily could have been squandered on a melodrama. Yet playwright Kenneth Lin uses the story of fictional Assemblyman Julius Lee to tease out “all kinds of ethical questions” about when past sins matter. Those questions stem from the activities of consultant Nathan Berkshire, who is vetting the rising Republican star for a possible congressional run. Along the way, he uncovers a skeleton in Lee’s closet: An ex-college girlfriend claims that the candidate stalked her and drove her to a nervous breakdown.
Each character has complex motivations, said Charles Isherwood in The New York Times. As Lee, Louis Ozawa Changchien “exudes the telegenic charm of a potential political star” while hinting at a steely ruthlessness behind his virtuous exterior. And though it feels incongruous that the seemingly honorable ex-girlfriend might use her experience for blackmail, Katharine Powell’s “quietly charged performance” helps illustrate how deeply Lee hurt her character. David Rasche’s Berkshire, a “professionally cynical but nevertheless sympathetic figure,” best embodies Lin’s larger message. American politics, in his view, is populated not by civil servants but by addicts of the game who are “not unlike teenagers hunched over video-game consoles mowing down their enemies by the dozens.”
Lin’s delivery of that message is “occasionally heavy-handed,” said Brendan Lemon in the Financial Times. Berkshire is also a less layered character than he’s apparently intended to be, and Lin’s attempts to humanize him through references to family problems don’t quite stick. Still, the playwright has a “superb” ear for dialogue. Whenever two characters sit down for the small talk that precedes the political horse-trading, you’ll want to prick up your ears.