Good writers borrow, great writers steal. Jacob McNeal (Robert Downey Jr.) is a great writer, one of our greatest, a perpetual candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. But McNeal also has an estranged son, a new novel, old axes to grind and an unhealthy fascination with Artificial Intelligence. Pulitzer Prize-winner Ayad Akhtar’s new play is a startling and wickedly smart examination of the inescapable humanity – and increasing inhumanity – of the stories we tell.
But there’s a funny irony here: Celebrity vehicles about hot topics are proven Broadway cash cows, so isn’t “McNeal” itself the product of a predictive algorithm? Even if that’s some part of a meta point, the show is nevertheless a bloodless and convoluted mess.
“McNeal” commits the cardinal sin of wasting Broadway treasures Andrea Martin and Ruthie Ann Miles, who pop in briefly as Jacob’s frenzied agent and concerned doctor, respectively. More ironically, it’s exactly the type of play that Downey’s smug title character would claim to deplore: all empty provocations and not an ounce of soul.
2024 | Broadway |
Lincoln Center Theater Broadway Premiere Producion Broadway |
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