Quick Hit Theater Review: The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs

Mike Daisey in The Agony and The Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, created and performed by Mike Daisey and directed by Jean-Michele Gregory, running at The Public Theater. Photo credit: Stan Barouh

The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs
Created and Performed by Mike Daisey
Directed by Jean-Michelle Gregory
Scenery and Lighting Design by Seth Reiser
The Public Theater
Summary:
Storyteller Mike Daisey (The Last Cargo Cult; How Theater Failed America; 21 Dog Years among others) shares his obsession with all things Apple and Steve Jobs along with his growing repugnance toward the labor conditions in China created by consumers’ obsession with having corporation's products.

Against a metal backdrop with LCD lighting (also a product of China), Daisey entertains with a monologue about technology and his trip to China to talk to workers who produce I-Phones and other technology. Technology itself becomes a metaphor for religion as users worship the products and believe they need ever latest upgrade. If we control the metaphor through which we see the world, then we control the world, he preaches. He combines humor, history and his own research to tell a sweeping story of genius, technological breakthroughs and heartbreaking disregard for the thousands of workers, many children, exploited by the industry.

It’s a tight two-hour presentation (no intermission) that will make you want to laugh and cry at the same time.

Highlights:
Entertaining, well written, thought provoking piece. Contemporary given the recent news cycle following the death of Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

Lowlights:
A little confusing at the beginning for those not familiar with Daisey’s presentations. It appears to some that Daisey might be trying to portray Jobs himself.

Information:A flyer is distributed following the performance with information on how to communicate with Apple, how to resist upgrading every device, educating yourself and others on labor conditions in China and how to speak out.

The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, Off-Broadway at the third-floor Martinson Hall at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St., NYC, has been extended through Dec. 4. The show runs Tuesdays through Sundays at 8 pm with matinees at 2 on the weekend. Call 212-539-8642 or visit www.publictheater.org for tickets.

Christians might also like to know:
--Lord’s name taken in vain
--Language throughout

--Lauren Yarger