If there’s anything to be learned from Data, Matthew Libby’s cautionary tale of Big Tech’s contribution to society, it is that we should be scared, very scared. “Data,” as one of the characters says, “is the language of our time,” and that language has the unchecked power to seal our fate, sometimes for the better. But as Libby makes clear, when data is in the wrong hands, we are doomed.
The play is set within a fictional Silicon Valley software company called Athena Technologies, where there’s a clear hierarchy among the work staff. Near the bottom is the UX department, short for User Experience. These are the folks who design the interface for the products and devices that we use. At the start we meet a pair of Gen Z techies playing ping-pong centerstage. Jonah (Brandon Flynn) is an ambitious UX staffer, and 22-year-old Maneesh (Karan Brar) is his new mentee. Judging by all the free time and friendly Taco Tuesday gatherings, these guys have it pretty easy.
[Read David Finkle’s ★★★★★ review here.]
By contrast, at the top of the company food chain is the Data Analytics department, where Riley (Sophia Lillis) is working on a top-secret project. As she rushes through the break room to grab a nitro cold brew — cursing the broken coffee machine — it’s clear she’s stressed out. On her way back to the inner sanctum she recognizes Maneesh, a former college friend, and is shocked that he’s not in Analytics with her team.
Jonah can only dream of joining their ranks but he lacks the brain power. It turns out Maneesh is brilliant but mysteriously refuses to join the top gun engineers in Analytics. Riley tells the boss, Alex (Justin H. Min), that when Maneesh was in school, he devised an algorithm that can predict rare events. It’s genius technology that could possibly be the breakthrough they need to secure the contract they’ve been desperate to win.
The 100-minute production, with sharp direction by Tyne Rafaeli, is lean and clean. Scenic designer Marsha Ginsberg fittingly matches the high-tech universe, where design is often functionally spare. The scenes are all divided by blackouts accompanied by blaring music. The stark emptiness of it all gives the air of a soul-less place, which Athena turns out to be.
As Alex presses hard to win Maneesh to the fold, the stakes get higher and higher. He tells him, “If we’re successful, in a few years, those of us in the trenches on Analytics will have the means and the power to shape things in this country for decades to come.” Ultimately Maneesh is faced with a moral and ethical dilemma.
The writing is very tight and compellingly suspenseful. Libby, who holds a degree from Stanford in cognitive science, does an excellent job navigating the technical complexities alongside the emotional gravity at the heart of the story. “Heart,” by the way, is disturbingly evoked when Alex describes the way that accumulating data is how you look into a person’s heart.
The four young actors are all splendid. Justin H. Min as Alex is the embodiment of tech bro entitlement. He represents the new masters of the universe — slick corporate heads drunk with the belief they can change the world.
After starring on screen in Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Disney programs, Karan Brar makes his stage debut as the reticent Maneesh. (He was in the Arena Stage production last year.) And even though it doesn’t seem to make much sense that Maneesh would choose to work in a company that would exploit his talents, Brar brings the tormented character to vivid life. Sophia Lillis, best known in the Stephen King It movies, does terrific work here as Riley, torn between staying in a job that she hates and needing to pay off school loans.
Data is a serious play but there is humor, almost exclusively in the hands of Jonah who knows his limitations but compensates by taking on the persona of an over-stimulated dude. Brandon Flynn is that guy to a T, and all the more impressive after seeing him play Marlon Brando so convincingly off Broadway in Kowalski
In his script, Libby provides a disturbingly prophetic quote from Open AI CEO Sam Altman: “AI will probably most likely lead to the end of the world, but in the meantime, there’ll be great companies.” Those companies, like Athena, are blind to the human cost of their success. Structurally, Data is not without flaws, but given the urgency of the material, they can easily be overlooked. Libby confirms our fears about what’s going on behind those tech walls. And lest you think it’s all fantasy, he notes that the action of the play takes place “in the mid-2020s,” adding: “It might already have happened.”
Data opened January 25, 2026, at the Lucille Lortel Theatre and runs through March 29. Tickets and information: datatheplay.com
