We all know that guy who is the professor on everything. That one guy who assumingly is all-knowing and, of course, ten times better than you are and ever will be. You know the guy I’m talking about, the man who when you talk to him, the only thought running through your head is “Is it rude to punch this guy in the face?” The character of Edgar is truly a tribute to “that guy”, and I believe that Jesse Eisenberg captures that so well in his new play Asuncion.
Let’s forget for a second that Jesse Eisenberg is an academy-award nominated young man and that Justin Bartha has also appeared quite frequently on the Big Screen, for these preconceived notions may cloud our judgment. When you remove these biases you will be pleasantly surprised to find that the play still holds water. The performances were solid, ranging from wildly serious to riotously funny.
Everything about this play was awesome. Dirty dishes aside, I wish my apartment was as chill as Vinny and Edgars, and, in concurrence with Kayde, I just may convince my roommate to let me redecorate in the near future. The helter-skelter quality the set gave off helped add to the free-spirited nature of Bartha’s character. Every character on that stage had natural humoristic tendencies, which offset the semi-serious theme of the play.
That’s really what I loved about the play- the rolling on floor laughing quality it contained. I honestly feel bad for the people around me, because whenever I get going I probably have the most obnoxious laugh in the whole world, and that laugh was pretty much persistent throughout the entire show.
But the play consisted of more than cheap sex jokes and hilarious “off the cuff” comments. The reason it was so funny was because it was so real. The play was mind-blowingly honest, and that is why I loved it so much. Going back to what I said earlier, we all know “that guy”. That young man who is so “open minded” and “worldly” is really put to the test when Asuncion struts into his door, and this concept is so great. What Mr Eisenberg really conveyed here was that we all are susceptible to profiling, even those who claim to be the most fair minded and non-judgmental people in the world. As the Avenue Q song goes, “we’re all a little bit racist sometimes”. He really makes a person think twice about their own perceptions of everyone and whether or not they are making some snap judgments themselves. His criticisms were both accurate and reflective of our own hypocritical society. The show was extremely effective, and in the attempt it wasn’t overly dramatic and depressing, as most shows about prejudice and racism are. I loved this show, so much so that I am seriously considering seeing it again.
