Ben (Jesse Eisenberg) shares his bitter thoughts on the state of the world with Kalyan (Kunal Nayyar) in THE SPOILS (photo by Monique Carboni)
The Pershing Square Signature Center
The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre
480 West 42nd St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
Tuesday – Sunday through June 28, $75-$95
212-244-7529
www.thenewgroup.org
www.signaturetheatre.org
In the second act of Jesse Eisenberg’s third play, The Spoils, Eisenberg, as the deeply troubled and extremely obnoxious Ben, says, “Did you think she was too mean? I’m struggling to figure out who our protagonist is. You can’t have a mean protagonist, but if they’re too perfect then they have nowhere to go. You know?” Yes, we know; Ben is referring to a woman in a documentary he is purportedly making, but he just as easily could be talking about himself, a nasty, confused, and confusing character who dishes out streams of sharp barbs and insensitive jokes. It is the third consecutive unlikable part that Eisenberg has written for himself for the stage, following Asuncion and The Revisionist. (He’s more likable in his film work: He was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network and has also starred in such underrated films as Adventureland and The Double.) Ben is a pot-smoking, jobless New Jersey Jew living in a New York City apartment with his roommate, Nepalese business student Kalyan (The Big Bang’s Kunal Nayyar). An all-around nice guy and good friend to Ben, Kalyan is dating Reshma (Annapurna Sriram), an Indian American doing her med school residency — and who can’t stand Ben. (Kalyan is based on a real-life Nepalese friend of Eisenberg’s who was in Indonesia during the recent earthquake and returned home to help with the disaster.) Ben’s slacker-like existence, supported by his parents’ money, turns when he bumps into an old grade school acquaintance, Ted (Michael Zegen of Boardwalk Empire and Rescue Me), a banker engaged to Ben’s first crush, the sweet, kind, and innocent Sarah (Erin Darke). Suddenly infused with a purpose in his life, Ben sets out to steal Sarah from Ted, but he is unaware of just how pathetic and unpleasant he really is.
A group of friends apologize to the rest of the world for their supposed success in Jesse Eisenberg’s THE SPOILS (photo by Monique Carboni)
The Spoils opens with Kalyan showing Reshma a PowerPoint presentation he has created called “American Football: An Introduction to the Ballet of Brutality,” asking the questions “Is it appropriate to withhold knowledge from someone even if you think it might hurt them? Is it ethical to deny someone information, even if disclosing that information might hurt them?” Eisenberg’s play is also a ballet of brutality centered around the vitriolic Ben, who is haunted by dreams and memories that he can’t hold within himself. Eisenberg gives a whirling, energetic performance as Ben, words flowing out of him like Barry Sanders racing toward the goal line. Nayyar is much more calm and subdued as Kalyan, whose nature is to find the good in all people, including Ben. The New Group world premiere, in the Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre at the Signature Center, is ably directed by Scott Elliott, making good use of Derek McLane’s traditional living room/kitchen apartment set with a balcony; one nice touch is that Ben and Kalyan use a print of Jasper Johns’s “White Flag” as a screen for their PowerPoint and video projections, a very subtle reference to both surrender and the whitewashing of the American Dream. At one point in the play, the five characters are drinking Nepalese beer, and Ben calls for a special toast. We gotta say ‘Cheers’ in Nepali!” he proclaims. “I don’t think I ever said anything that would be an equivalent to ‘Cheers,’” Kalyan says. “I guess when we’re drinking, we don’t really feel a need to congratulate each other.” Ben ultimately decides that they “should apologize to the world. Because they’re toiling away while we get to sit here and drink. . . . A Nepalese Cheers: To all the pathetic f—s breaking their back while we drink this beautiful beer: I’m sorry!” It’s a funny moment that perhaps best represents the bubble they are all living in. But The Spoils still has a hard time getting past just how contentious and ill-natured Ben is, even when he begins to reveal his true self. He’s just not someone you’ll ever want to share a beer with.