'The Spoils': Millennials Behaving Badly

‘THE SPOILS’: Jesse Eisenberg & Kunal Nayyar. Photo: Monique Carboni

THE SPOILS
Written by Jesse Eisenberg
Directed by Scott Elliott
Through June 28, 2015
The New Group
The Pershing Square Signature Center
480 West 42nd Street
(212-279-4200), http://www.TheNewGroup.org

By David NouNou

To what ends would one go through to annihilate the ones closest to them? How low would privileged, shiftless millennials sink to, in order to douse the happiness of those hard workers, contributors to society, and people who are just happy to be themselves? How disliked and repellant do you have to be in order to get some recognition from those closest to you? These are just some of the demons that playwright Jesse Eisenberg tries to exorcise here, and he deals with them in a Machiavellian way, with hysterical humor and of course the drama at the core.

Ben (Jesse Eisenberg) is over privileged, living in a fantastic high-rise apartment that his father bought him, and was kicked out of NYU graduate film school. Ben’s never done a day’s work in his life. He’s a pot-smoking, aimless guy who berates everyone close to him. In addition, he’s a bigot, and can’t stand anyone’s happiness, ethics or ambitions. On good days, Ben is sarcastic and spews venom. Ben has a Nepalese roommate, Kalyan (Kunal Nayyar), a hard worker and a finance major. Kalyan loves being in America, and genuinely cares for and likes Ben. He feels obligated to him because Ben lets him live there for free.

Kalyan has a girlfriend, Reshma (Annapurna Sriram), who is medical student on clinical rotations and is very fond of Kalyan, admires his ambitions but has her misgivings about him. She feels free to come and go in Ben’s apartment, and she has contempt for Ben.

On this auspicious day, Ben runs into a former grade-school acquaintance, Ted (Michael Zegen), a likeable Wall Street douche. Ted is marrying Sarah (Erin Darke), a former grade school crush of Ben’s who is now a public school teacher. Now the circle of characters is complete and Eisenberg’s Machiavellian mind shifts the action into high gear. How does a self-hating, childish bully vanquish anyone who is happy, to some degree self-absorbed, has a modicum of success and looks forward to a brighter future?

The ensemble of five is terrific. Eisenberg, the actor, an Oscar nominee and best known for The Social Network, plays the self-destructive Ben to perfection; as both playwright and actor he plays him sincerely and asks for no pity. Like everyone else in life, Ben has to find his own way through his maze.

Kunal Nayyar, best known as TV’s Raj Koothrappalli in the TV series “The Big Bang Theory,” has left such an indelible mark as Raj, that it is almost impossible to separate him from his TV character. Let’s say that Kalyan is the New York cousin of Raj: an optimistic, serious, hard-working immigrant who longs for a better life and Mr. Nayyar delivers splendidly.

Erin Darke, Annapurna Sriram, and Michael Zegen complete the cast and each one stands out well as their character. Scott Elliott, Artistic Director of The New Group and director of The Spoils, should have given Mr. Eisenberg, the playwright, a bit more focus, especially in Act II, because Mr. Eisenberg is proving himself not only as a successful young actor but is distinguishing himself as a new voice and an interesting, up-and-coming playwright.