Tony Award-winning playwright Itamar Moses returns to The Public with the world premiere of THE ALLY. When Asaf (Josh Radnor) is asked to sign a social justice manifesto, he expects to be able to do so without hesitation. Instead, he becomes embroiled in an increasingly conflicted web of relationships that challenge his commitments as a liberal, a husband, an academic, an American, an atheist, and a Jew. With tensions at an all-time high, Asaf is forced to confront the age-old question: “If I am only for myself, what am I?” Directed by Drama Desk Award winner Lila Neugebauer, THE ALLY is a passionate, provocative, and unflinching new play about the vanishing line between the personal and the political.
Cuttingly, Farid calls him and his ilk “the sympathetic ear.” Moses similarly beckons an audience which, despite the city and the Public’s ostensible reputation for open-mindedness, is still fairly monolithic in its receptive attitudes. What he, and this production, have managed to do in the current political climate is almost heroic in its thematic resoluteness. It doesn’t reach conclusions, but suggests that the boldest enemy an ally-to-all has lives within.
The characters ponder the political interconnectedness of these heavy topics – police brutality, Israel and Palestine, gentrification in college towns, Jewish identity – but never does Moses take a step back to consider the dramatic interconnectedness or lack of it. These concepts are connected, as Baron learns over the course of one scene, but they are packed into the script with no breathing room, preventing the characters from authentic self-reflection (and the actors from a moment’s rest). Everyone is passionate, but no one is sincere.
2024 | Off-Broadway |
Public Theater Off-Broadway Premiere Production Off-Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Play | Itamar Moses |
2024 | The Lortels | Outstanding Lead Performer in a Play | Josh Radnor |
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