Any lingering doubts about how the 2016 election went the way it did, Sarah Gancher’s Russian Troll Farm: A Workplace Comedy, now ending its run at the Vineyard Theater, offers a hilarious, clever, chilling spectacle of our nightmares come true –especially horrifying as we move toward the 2024 elections. Set in a cold office space, this play posits workers, computer nerds doing what they do best: hacking. A photo of Putin hangs on a back wall. We are in fact where our worst fears of control by a foreign enemy are fueled and posted. Expert in manipulating social media, these workers, led by Ljuba, a Robotnik performed by Christine Lahti, tweet misinformation at once familiar and breathtakingly outrageous—Hillary as a pedophile—kidnapped kids in tunnels beneath Disneyland—incredible fakeries that had us by the –eh, balls.
The brightest note—this is good, riveting theater. And that view goes beyond the sight of Steve’s (John Lavelle) ample, inked butt crack. Renata Friedman as Masha, Haskell King as Egor, and Hadi Tabbal as Nikolai round out the fine ensemble. My hope is Russian Troll Farm will move to Broadway—as have other superb Vineyard productions such as Dana H. and This is a Room.
At the Vineyard Theatre’s gala this week, the Edison Ballroon was abuzz. Honoring Jesse Tyler Fergusen, a rousing rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” was a no-brainer. Chelsea Clinton, Lea DeLaria, Celia-Keegan Bolger, Sara Bareilles, Emily Bergl, and Montego Glover paid tribute, but Glover, a former Ferguson roommate, could attest: Jesse puts down the toilet seat. Whattamensch!
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