Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Sit-com writing detracts from the credibility of the questions raised by D.A. Mindell’s ON THE EVOLUTIONARY FUNCTION OF SHAME

• By drediman
• March 2, 2025
• No Comments

This winter season marks the beginning of a new era for Second Stage Theater — an evolution, if you will — with the opening of D.A. Mindell’s On the Evolutionary Function of Shame at the company’s new Off-Broadway home at the Pershing Square Signature Center (last fall, Second Stage presented its final performance at the Tony Kiser Theater, its longtime former Off-Broadway Mainstage venue). In short, the play tells the story of Adam, a transgender man expecting a baby, and his twin sister Eve, a scientist whose controversial, cutting-edge work on genetic modification causes a rift between the two siblings (no further spoilers here).

On paper, the debates entered into by Mindell and his characters about identity (particularly of the queer variety), family, and the ethics of next generation science are nothing less than fascinating. Although the playwright is clearly positioned on one side of the argument, the work nevertheless effectively lays out its speculative, slippery moral dilemmas, which are likely to inspire some animated post-show conversations amongst audience members. Unfortunately, the play’s scenario is a tad too much on the nose, and the play’s writing and execution detract from the credibility of the questions raised. As authentically as the characters want to live, the piece suffers from generic sit-com writing and tone that undermine it. It also doesn’t help that the characters are emotionally juvenile, and register generally as unconvincing dramatic creations. Additionally, the juxtaposition of overly arch scenes depicting the story of the Biblical Adam and Eve serve little purpose than to unnecessarily pad the 90-minute play and overtly telegraph its themes.

The limp direction by Jess McLeod does little to camouflage the deficiencies of On the Evolutionary Function of Shame. Similarly, the young and committed cast does its best to salvage the play but mostly comes up short in infusing much-needed dimensionality into the largely archetypal characters. Perhaps the strongest performance of the evening comes from Cody Sloan in the central role of “modern day” Adam. Although the character is infuriating much of the time, Sloan brings touching humanity and a fighting spirit to a play that often feels like a sketch comedy rather than an urgent philosophical treatise.

SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED

ON THE EVOLUTIONARY FUNCTION OF SHAME
Off-Broadway, Play
Second Stage Theater
1 hour, 30 minutes (without an intermission)
Through March 9