Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Urgency fuels THE ALLY, Itamar Moses’ stunning, debate-driven new play at The Public

• By drediman
• February 28, 2024
• No Comments

Last night, The Public Theater’s production of The Ally by Itamar Moses (perhaps best known for penning the book for the Tony-winning musical The Band’s Visit) opened at the Anspacher Theater at the venerated theater company’s Off-Broadway home base on Lafayette Street. Set in a fictitious American University, the piece tells the story of Asasf, a liberal Jewish professor who over the course of the play must confront and reconcile an increasingly complicated mass of conflicting agendas, particularly those that deal with the heated Israel/Palestine situation and their correlation to the ongoing police brutality facing the Black community (note that there are other forces at play that complicate matters even further).

In short, Moses’s latest is a stunner of a play, in my estimation one of the most important plays of the season (given that the run at The Public is currently completely sold out, I’d like to see the production extend or even transfer Uptown). The playwright has written an intrinsically political piece that’s also an astonishing play of ideas and debate. The intellectual battles — which are carefully set up in a relatively slow-burning first act — make for thrilling drama. Because the stakes are sky high for all involved, these confrontations are also harrowing to behold and are sure to get audiences’ blood boiling (especially those with a particularly strong points of view). By presenting compelling arguments from each constituent, The Ally ultimately takes no sides, leaving it up to the audience — like Asaf — to hash it out on their own or be numbed into stalemate catatonia.

The Ally has been directed with steady propulsion by Lila Neugebauer, who draws some rather impassioned performances from her superb cast. As Asaf, Josh Radnor practically carries the show with a performance of incredible stamina, intellectual rigor, and vulnerability. Every time his convictions flare, he’s met with equally compelling arguments that have him wrestling with his thoughts, often times leaving him reeling. Other standouts include Joy Osmanski and Cherise Boothe as his clearheaded wife and fiery activist ex-girlfriend, respectively. Also worth noting are Elijah Jones, Michael Khalid Karadsheh, Ben Rosenfield, and Madeline Weinstein as manipulative students with their polarizing agendas of their own.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

THE ALLY
Off-Broadway, Play
The Public Theater
2 hours, 45 minutes (with one intermission)
Through March 24