Absurdity Governs in Anne Washburn’s ‘ANON’

The opening tableau in Anne Washburn’s new play, “ANON,” will be familiar to many parents: A teenage girl arrives home and immediately storms off to her room, oblivious to her mother’s cheerful inquiry about the school day. You can imagine the daughter signing on to TikTok the moment her door is closed, flipping from post to post, maybe pausing to craft her own video.But there’s a twist in this quirky, engaging piece, now in its world premiere off-Broadway at MCC Theater. The middle-aged mom, Jeanie, is the rabid TikToker; in fact, her 15-year-old, Delia, is miffed because Jeanie has betrayed a promise not to drag her into her online musings. “Mom,” Delia scoffs, “you cannot post about my period.” As we’ll soon discover, Jeanie isn’t merely one of those women (and men) of all ages who feel compelled to overshare on social media. “ANON” unfolds in September 2024 — in “BIDEN’S AMERICA ;),” as cheeky supertitles inform us — and she’s venting about a disruption in Delia’s menstrual cycle caused, she believes, by “all the vaccine shedders,” as she puts it. Lest we forget, vaccine shedding, a medical term used in limited circumstances before the Covid pandemic, grew more popular about five years ago among vaccine skeptics. Over the next two acts, we’ll learn that Jeanie’s beliefs, all of which she holds as rock-solid facts — “I always tell the truth,” she insists — also include the conviction that her accounts have been “shadowbanned” under the Biden administration, with platforms “controlled by Jews and by the Jewish media cabal.”Little wonder that Will and Adam, the gay couple who have just moved in next door, peg Jeanie as, in Will’s words, a “MAGA loonie,” and in Adam’s, “Full on QAnon!”That far-right movement, which has earned infamy over the past decade with conspiracy theories casting targets as pedophiles, human traffickers, and Satan worshippers, was obviously one source of inspiration for the play’s title. Another, just as clearly, was Shakespeare: As an English assignment, Delia has been asked to create a soliloquy for a character in “King Lear” or “Richard III,” and she enlists the help of her mother, who is more familiar with the Bard than you might expect.Part of what makes “ANON” compelling and thought-provoking, not to mention very funny at points, is that Ms. Washburn, who gained acclaim with 2012’s “Mr. Burns, A Post Electric Play,” refuses to depict Jeanie as many other contemporary writers might, as a mouth-breathing ignoramus.As played by a witty, vibrant Crystal Finn, a New York stage stalwart, Jeanie can be as reflective and aspirational as she is bigoted and paranoid. In an amusing fantasy sequence, she pictures herself being interviewed by a Republican vice president — a public figure who has never held that title in life, though he has served in high-ranking political and military positions — and hailed as a hero and patriot.Director Anne Kauffman culls smart, comically adroit performances from the other actors, including Andrew Garman, wry as Jeanie’s beleaguered husband, and Izabel Mar, whose Delia is authentic and touching. Jeff Biehl and Jeremy Shamos are equally convincing as, respectively, the droll Adam, who recognizes his new neighbor while scrolling —“I participate in the culture,” he quips — and Will, who initially seems less intrigued by the weird lady across the street but becomes alarmed after a gay pride flag hung by Adam ignites Jeanie’s wrath.“This was never a hill I wanted to die on,” Will notes, admitting he has never gone in for “the desperate colorfulness” or “the little kidness” he associates with celebrations of pride. But when Adam points out that the flag may comfort gay kids who feel alienated, Will realizes that those kids likely also go online, where they can meet millions of others like them, making that hill worth defending after all. It’s a poignant exchange, all the more so because Ms. Washburn doesn’t get preachy or snide. Here and throughout “ANON,” the playwright recognizes that we are all, regardless of political affiliation or sexual orientation or any other identifying factor, capable of some level of absurdity. It’s when that absurdity creeps over into madness that danger looms, and the play captures this too, leading to a wild, literally stormy finish that you won’t soon forget.

Absurdity Governs in Anne Washburn’s ‘ANON’

Absurdity Governs in Anne Washburn’s ‘ANON’

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