Political and social arguments injected into plays can often prove dramatically clunky. Fortunately, playwright Jonathan Spector has found the perfect recipe to make the balance work, first in his acclaimed Eureka Day, seen on Broadway last season, and now in his latest work receiving its New York City premiere at MCC Theater. Depicting the interactions over two decades of six people who met while on a Birthright excursion in Israel, Birthright emerges as a deeply moving and funny examination of topics including, but not limited to, the shifting nature of friendships to the toxicity of social media to the current state of affairs in Israel.
The play runs a daunting three hours and twenty minutes, including two intermissions, but it somehow feels much shorter thanks to the incisive writing, pitch-perfect direction, and superb performances by its talented ensemble. Featuring excellent set designs by Scott Pask, costumes by Clint Ramos, and lighting by Natasha Katz, it’s also receiving the sort of high-class production that would fit in beautifully on Broadway.
The first act, set in 2006, introduces us to the six millennials getting together, shortly after their Birthright trip, at the Virginia suburb home of one of their parents. As succinctly described in the script, they are Chaya (Zoe Winters, Heroes of the Fourth Turning), “in search of community”; Izzy (Molly Bernard, Cult of Love), “in search of justice”; Noah (Eli Gelb, Stereophonic), “in search of understanding”; Emerson (Nate Mann, A Soldier’s Play), “in search of serenity”; Alona (Molly Ransom, Prayer for the French Republic), “in search of home”; and Lev (Hale Appleman Netflix’s The Magicians), “in search of meaning.” Also on hand periodically is Chaya’s hovering mother Deborah (Broadway veteran Liz Larsen, hilarious).
[Read Melissa Rose Bernardo’s ★★★★☆ review here.]
The reunion, as might be expected from young twentysomethings, involves discussions of such matters as who hooked up with who during the trip and what everyone’s future plans are. And then the group is jolted by the unexpected arrival of Lev, who had mysteriously disappeared while in Israel and now reveals the details of the spiritual quest he had been on.
The next two sections, set in 2016 and 2024, show us how the characters evolve over the years, often in unexpected ways. As each act begins, projections of texts, emails, and social media posts by members of the group provide shorthand accounts of their goings-on. The snapshots are alternately humorous and poignant, commenting on deaths, marriages, childbirth, and the like. And sometimes they’re absolutely harrowing, such as frantically concerned messages to Alona by the others shortly after the horrific October 7 attacks by Hamas.
Spector displays a true gift for character delineation, creating vividly specific figures who are brought to life by the talented performers. The dialogue comes fast and frequently hilarious as they navigate personal crises and often come into conflict with each other. But their deep friendship makes them rise above their issues, and a tragic event late in the play makes us realize how much we’ve come to care about them.
Eureka Day was celebrated for its hilarious scene depicting a livestream Zoom call between the administrators of a private school and the student’s parents, featuring a procession of frequently derogatory comments. Spector periodically employs roughly the same device here to equally funny effect, most notably in a blistering argument between two characters over the Middle East situation that results in what can only be described as a Google duel.
Does Birthright really need to be so long? Not really. Does it get a bit didactic in its heated debates about current or recent events? Sure. But it hardly matters thanks to the play’s sharply observed immediacy and the wonderfully acted production. The final scene will bring you to tears, just a few moments after the hilarious reveal of the dramatic transformation of one of the characters produces the evening’s biggest laugh. This is a play that has a lot to say and entertainingly makes it go down easy.
