Elmer Rice, the grandson of 19th-century German-Jewish revolutionaries who wrote socially conscious plays in the early 20th century, is no longer the household name he once was. But you can see why The New Group would be interested in reviving his 1923 drama The Adding Machine, an exercise in Brechtian expressionism centered on a lowly bookkeeper who becomes undone when his job is replaced by the new technology of the title. A century later, we are still anxious about the prospect of AI or some other wave of high-tech machines displacing us from our livelihoods.
The story centers on a schlubby nobody aptly named Zero, played by Daphne Rubin-Vega in a deliberately ill-fitting suit and a bland mop of grayish, front-parted hair (costumes by Catherine Zuber; wigs by Tom Watson). We first meet Zero in bed as he silently endures a comically protracted nighttime monologue from his chatterbox wife (Jennifer Tilly, in a delightfully daffy performance). But the character’s blood pressure never seems to rise a tick over the next two-plus hours despite a series of incidents that ought to wake him from his somnolence: the murder of his boss (which occurs offstage), his subsequent conviction and execution, and the reunion with his former workplace crush (Sarita Choudhury) in an afterlife where he seems all too eager to slip back into a routine of daily drudgery.
Thomas Bradshaw, a New Group regular who adapted Rice’s script, sticks surprisingly close to the original, including protracted scenes of speechifying and period references that begged for a trim (or a modern spin). His main innovation is the introduction of a narrator, played by Michael Cyril Creighton with an ebullient bundle of energy and an impressive range. In addition to framing the story, Creighton embodies all the other characters, from the ill-fated boss to various legal authorities to Zero’s guide to the afterlife to 10 of Zero’s neighbors (numbered Mr. & Mrs. One through Five) — whom the actor gives distinct accents and inflections in a madcap dinner party that’s a performative highlight of the first act without actually advancing the plot.
Rubin-Vega, always so expressive on stage, seems unduly constrained in a role so recessive and toned down that it barely has a pulse. Zero is a problematic hero, not only because of his willingness to just be a lowly cog in corporate life (and to resort to murder). He also evades our sympathy by spouting a series of outrageously offensive, racist, and antisemitic beliefs throughout the show — a knee-jerk prejudice that echoes today in the nativist attitudes of blue-collar MAGA types who are quick to scapegoat anybody but the corporate bosses responsible for an unfair system that keeps the lower classes in their place.
Rice, a Jewish playwright born Elmer Reizenstein, did not share his character’s beliefs — but it’s unclear how we’re meant to view Zero’s journey. He seems stunted — by his knee-jerk politics, by his timidity in pursuing love, by his lack of ambition to move beyond the familiar (however miserable that makes him). He flatly rejects every second chance that comes his way — no sooner does he warm to Choudhury’s Daisy than she becomes another victim of his stubborn solipsism. He’s a tragic hero who’s even deprived an epiphany to recognize his fundamental mistake.
While audience’s may struggle to connect with Zero’s depressingly circular journey, Director Scott Elliott’s production soups up the material with remarkable visual flair. Derek McLane’s evocative and versatile set, with a back wall of shelves holding antique desk lamps and office machines, yields multiple surprises as wooden filing cabinets open to reveal bedrooms and coffins and other locales. Jeff Croiter’s striking lighting and Stan Mathabanes sometimes jolting sound contribute to the overall tone of the piece, by turns discomfiting and provocative. There is a great deal of skill invested to refresh this century-old cautionary tale, but The Adding Machine doesn’t quite add up. ★★★☆☆
THE ADDING MACHINE
The Theater at St. Clement’s, Off Broadway
Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes (with one intermission)
Tickets on sale through May 10 for $79 to $109