Plagiarizing is looked at by many writers as the ultimate taboo, a complete and total incineration of the public trust between those who pen and those who consume what’s penned.
But what if those writings are written in the author’s own style, but using a little help from a robot friend? Are we plagiarizing ourselves when artificial intelligence rears its confounding head to help us find our authentic voice?
The answer to these questions would seem obvious. But what if there’s a device that can say your words and ideas better than you can, but with your own heart and nuance? What if this intelligence helps accentuate a writer’s points so that there is no misunderstanding, no question as to the intent of the writer’s wishes?
As artificial intelligence continues to pull our world into unprecedented territory, with ethical questions surrounding every conversation, San Jose Stage Company’s production of Ayad Akhtar’s “McNeal” offers up some critical thoughts to stew over, asking where we might be headed with some new, ethical considerations to ponder. The production is steered confidently by director Randall King, with the stakes heightened by flashy scenic work by Giulio Cesare Perrone, Erik Scanlon’s projections, and Steve Schoenbeck’s fantastic soundscape.
Jacob McNeal (Johnny Moreno) spends his days drinking Irish Whiskey straight out of the bottle, facing a critical career milestone in the form of a pending Nobel Prize nomination. What should be some of the most transformative times for any writer of consequence devolves into staring at the bottom of a bottle, Jacob’s alcoholism setting the stage for other destructive situations. His relationship with son Harlan (Andre Amarotico) has just about reached rock-bottom.
Other relationships aren’t faring much better, including the one with his agent Stephie (Nicole Tung), his physician (Abigail Esfira Campbell) who delivers some bad news that he takes with confounding energy, and Francine (Bridgette Loriaux), his ex-mistress who is another in the long line of people he treats like garbage.
While the play’s issues are compelling and timely as all get out, the challenge in the production is how unfocused the script can seem, namely due to the volume of ignorant remarks and insults Jacob hurls in record time. He possesses minimal redeeming qualities, making for a play that comes off as a highlight reel of horrific choices and dilutes the power of what it is trying to convey. What begins as a moral dilemma that most writers face at some point becomes Jacob’s justification for his lack of an ethical core as time and space move forward.
Moreno is often highly effective when playing smarmy and snakish characters who gleefully refuse to jibe with appropriate social mores. His portrayal of Jacob’s lack of redeeming qualities make for a character who’s a mite too one-dimensional and overly eager to defend the indefensible. Is there really a reason why we should be rehashing why Harvey Weinstein wasn’t so bad? Seriously?
Fellow cast members, whose characters are simply another consequence of Jacob’s collateral damage, understand their roles in the telling of this story within a short run time. Furthering the creep factor of Jacob and his all-out war with society, his agent’s smitten and flirtatious assistant, the 20-something Dipti (Celeste LaGrange). may be the only person who yearns for more of his words.
But are they really his words? “McNeal” is a metaphor as to how this new reckoning with artificial intelligence may require a complete dismissal of compelling human flaws and the creativity that takes a lifetime to harness and build. Does the production work at all times? No, the convolution of the weaving story and a principal character who is such a louse can be grating. And with so many dynamics and situations moving through space at all times, the message and the storyline become muddled.
At the end of the day, Jacob has duped plenty of folks and doesn’t seem to mind the consequences. After all, as he rages against the dying of his own light to anyone in his cross hairs, his life work and Nobel nomination may be built on becoming king Leer. Despite his potential forlorn legacy he may possess when his time on earth concludes, one thing is clear – as long as he has words, his or someone (or something) else’s, he could care less.
David John Chávez is chair of the American Theatre Critics/Journalists Association and a two-time juror for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (‘22-‘23); @davidjchavez.bsky.social.
‘MCNEAL’
By Ayad Akhtar, presented by San Jose Stage Company
Through: Oct. 19
Where: San Jose Stage, 490 S. 1st St., San Jose
Running time: 80 minutes, no intermission
Tickets: $49-$74; thestage.org