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The last few years have seen a bewildering array of West End vanity projects written by and starring American comedy actors, notably Zach Braff’s ‘All New People’ (rubbish) and Matthew Perry’s ‘The End of Longing’ (balls).
This off-Broadway transfer from ‘Social Network’ star Jesse Eisenberg is definitely a step up: ‘The Spoils’ is his third professionally produced work, and it’s better than Braff and Perry’s plays, even it it shares the same basic issue as both of them, namely that it feels less like a piece of theatre than an extended sitcom.
Following rich, obnoxious, directionless Jewish kid Ben (Eisenberg) and his hard-working Nepalese immigrant best friend Kaylan (Kunal Nayyar), there are some fascinating seeds in it, hints of a more profound play about the malaise that sets in to immigrant generations as they assimilate and lose their forefathers’ drive. There’s also something interesting in Ben’s unreliable representations of his shared past with Ted (Alfie Allen) and Sarah (Katie Brayden), who Ben has a monstrously inappropriate crush on.
But it’s all buried under two-and-a-half-hours of gags (often pretty strong) and some awful decisions from director Scott Elliott: the bit where a tinkly piano ballad plays over the PA at the end of the final scene is just horrendous, like ‘One Tree Hill: The Stage Play’.
What ‘The Spoils’ really does have going for it is, of course, Jesse Eisenberg (the actor). A twitchy, jumpy, strangely athletic live-wire of a performer, he’s completely compelling, the charisma of a Hollywood A-lister (which is what he is) combined with genuine, honest-to-god stagecraft (which film actors often lack). The rest of the cast are good too – I particularly enjoyed Annapurna Sriram as Kaylan’s prissy, self-absorbed girlfriend Reshma.
Eisenberg emerges with credit, albeit more as an actor – he has a fascinating energy that’s all his own. I would love to see his Mercutio, his Hamlet, his Iago… His Benedick – yes. His Ben – not so much, but there’s no denying his talent.