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Disruption review – anti-AI thriller boasts knockout cast but tech commentary needs an update
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The anti-AI thriller "Disruption" has made its US debut Off-Broadway, three years after its London premiere. Andrew Stein's play takes on the vast amounts of personal data that users freely hand to tech overlords, and how that information could be weaponized. It arrives amid a wave of AI-focused theater, including Ayad Akhtar's "McNeal" in 2024 and Matthew Libby's "Data" earlier this year.
Directed by Hersh Ellis, the production features a standout cast including John David Washington, Conrad Ricamora, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Irene Sofia Lucio, Jason Ralph, Elizabeth Stanley, Joe Tippett, and Emma Kikue. The plot centers on a dinner party where successful entrepreneur Nick pitches his business venture, described as "Waze, but for your life" — an AI-driven algorithm to assist with all life decisions.
The assembled friends, all in their late 30s and early 40s, are paired off in appealing ways: an uptown couple debating between Machu Picchu and the Galápagos, a Brooklyn pair regretting a $3 million brownstone, and a Westchester couple stressed about making the last train home. Yet the wives resist Nick's proposal, preventing their husbands from investing, though the play doesn't fully define their reasons.
What the play offers in insight, however, feels dated. Lines like "Data's the next frontier" and "Technology has made us so connected to everything except ourselves" would have been stale even in 2010. The three-year gap since its premiere has left much of its tech commentary obsolete, especially as ChatGPT has continued to evolve.
Critics may praise the "absurdly talented cast" and brisk direction, but the narrative takes a sharp turn into a blackmail plot that arrives late. This pivot jostles with the tangled, even incestuous, dynamics of the eight characters, leaving the play's message scattered.
Despite these flaws, the production offers adult, contemporary material, and Stein remains defiantly anti-AI. The Off-Broadway debut suggests that while rushing to meet headlines can yield uneven results, the conversation about AI's role in personal lives remains urgent and unresolved.
