By Ben Lerner
Plays exist to entertain. Some amuse. Some devastate. Some evoke complex thought. Some, like Data, do all three. To say that Matthew Libby’s new Off-Broadway work is timely would be a massive understatement.
A deeply relevant and suspenseful drama, Data is by no means an upper, though its satirical elements of Silicon Valley tech bro culture bring some laughs. But it doesn’t take long for existential dread and moral dilemmas to overwhelm the lead character, a new employee at tech company Athena named Maneesh (the terrific Karan Brar). His concerns and fears mirror the audience’s, as the hyperrealism of Libby’s narrative sets in. It’s a work of fiction — Athena doesn’t exist, but it’s palpable that the tech companies that do are just as ethically dangerous as they appear in the play.
The 100-minute, intermission-free drama follows Maneesh as he is recruited out of his basic job in user experience (UX) under mentor/himbo Jonah (Brandon Flynn) to the prestigious data analytics team under CEO Alex Chen (Justin H. Min). Maneesh is hesitant, but his college friend Riley (Sophia Lillis), who is already central to the data team, gets him a meeting with her boss. Each of the four characters’ motivations are not what they initially seem, as secrets are revealed and the gravity of Maneesh’s dilemma simultaneously hits him and the audience.
Sharply directed by Tyne Rafaeli, Data brings Libby’s script to life with sleek, effective set and lighting design, respectively by Marsha Ginsberg and Amith Chandrashaker. As Maneesh, Karan Brar, best known for Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Disney Channel’s Jessie and Bunk’d, more than proves his dramatic prowess for a very different audience (not for kids!). Sophia Lillis (of the It horror films) is the other standout as Riley, who we first meet as a nervous, socially awkward workaholic, but soon discover is in a far more complex situation. Similarly, Brandon Flynn (Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why) first presents Jonah as a basic tech bro with little nuance, but reveals a darkness and desperation that instigates a major plot point — the handsome himbo is more than meets the eye, for better or for worse!
The political and ethical implications of rapidly growing AI technology — who it really serves, and at what cost — seem ripped from our very current headlines. Fascinatingly, Libby first developed Data as an NYU grad student in 2018, well before the AI boom changed the tech landscape. He edited and updated the script as AI grew and the tech industry’s entire culture changed at rapid pace. There’s a second incredibly timely political element to Data that I won’t spoil — you’ll know it when you hear it.
Data isn’t an easy watch. It’s alarming because it’s so real and of our time, even as a work of fiction that’s been in development for over seven years. It reminded me in some ways of the current Broadway production of Marjorie Prime, which confronts the ethics of AI from a different, equally pertinent angle. That play premiered in 2014 and feels even more relevant today, as if it saw the future. The future — or likely, the present — portrayed in Data is not a hopeful one. But not all plays should be. It is certainly well-acted, engaging, and smart, but it most effectively confronts important ethical issues that are sadly not theoretical. They’re here, and just as the play ends ambiguously, we can only hope the whistle is blown before it’s too late.
Playing through March 29 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. Tickets at https://www.datatheplay.com/