The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs

Tonight I saw another one-man play at Woolly Mammoth. WOW! Mike Daisey performed his play The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs. For just under two hours he sat at a silver desk on a black stage with a background of linear computer-like light patterns. I really didn’t know what to expect. It started out as a humorous presentation from a techno-geek’s point of view of his (our) obsession with the latest gadgets (particularly Apple), that threaded some stories of Steve Jobs into it. The story then bounced back and forth between the tech-lover/Steve Jobs story to telling about his going to China to Shenzhen, a largely unknown city of a special economic zone, where most of the electronics in the world is produced today. He also talked about the huge Foxconn plant which employees 400,000 people and makes more than half of our electronic gadgets. It was quite moving to learn most of these things are actually hand made by workers, including some who are very young, who work long hours with very bad conditions and are basically treated like serfs. It was eye opening. I can’t recall being so moved by a piece of theater and being informed while at the same time being entertained. Woolly Mammoth has turned out to be a really great theater experience.