Theater Review: A brilliantly funny Mankind explores gender roles

Mankind

Written and directed by Robert O’Hara

Starring Bobby Moreno and Anson Mount

Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan

January 14, 2018

There are many ways to explore religion. One could join a church for immersion, read the Bible, Torah, Koran at home, read Karen Armstrong’s A History of God (1993) or any of her other excellent books, or travel around the world immersing oneself in holy sites like the Vatican, Temple Mount, the Ajanta caves, etc.

Or one could head to 42^nd St. to see Robert O’Hara’s darkly funny play Mankind, which covers more religious ground in 2 hours than most religious texts can in 700 pages. At its simplest level, this is the story of two dudes (Jason and Mark) who, in a sci-fi world in which women are extinct, have a baby. The precise anatomy and physiology is not explained, and a lawyer unhelpfully tells us that after Woman’s  extinction, “Mankind adapted”. The thing is, Jason and Mark’s baby is a girl, the first born in over a century, and they (and the baby) become the subject of passionate religious fervor by zealous adherents of the new Feminist religion, banned by the patriarchal state. I won’t share too many more details, since this play revels in the precise ways in which a religion is formed, propagated, and indulged in by believers. It is a marvelously funny journey, one in which you may well yourself participate in a religious rite, indulge in idol worship, and find yourself laughing at your own or others’ religiosity. Yet, like The Book of Mormon, I can imagine this play being equally enjoyed by believers, doubters, and skeptics. What both plays have in common is a warmth and earnestness that lets neither degenerate into pure mockery. In Mankind  this is  due equally to a brilliant script and equally adept direction by the playwright and totally convincing performances by the players.

 This play covers a lot of ground, including the implications of abortion and anti-abortionism, global warming, feminism, male patriarchy, money in big religion, and the attraction of cults. Somehow the playwright Robert O’Hara, previously best known for short gay-related plays, ties together all these themes in ingenious and often-hysterical ways without letting things devolve into a bulletin-board style activism play . I suspect if I were to narrate the specific ways this occurred, you might find it all very unlikely and contrived, but in live performance (I saw the play twice) it all works and melds together. The first act builds steadily as we learn more and more details about the couple and the evolving religion, climaxing in a mass religious rite, perhaps one of the strongest first half endings I have seen. The second act changes pace and is more thoughtful, delving into the implications of the new religion on society and on the protagonists, but maintains its forward motion and energy, and again builds to a less-manic but still-satisfying conclusion. Mr. O’Hara here demonstrates that he can write an architecturally sound, forward moving two hour play that does not flag, a very rare talent in young playwrights.

Besides “What is Religion”, the play’s other big theme is “Who are Men?”. This is not a gay play, despite the male-male childbearing. The playwright is creative and funny as he plumbs the depths of an all-male society, one where testosterone is always near the surface. The two leads are each distinctive as the “romantic” couple: Bobby Moreno and Anson Mount play off one another with split-second comic timing and a very delicate tension between two straight-acting “guy friends” and the two parents of a new baby. O’Hara deftly explores their immature “guy” obsession on sex-only relationships (now without women around to limit their promiscuity) vs. their very grown-up and very coupled new responsibilities. All this is a terrific metaphor for the connectedness or (lack of it) between sex, love, marriage, and childrearing. Despite women’s absence from the play, it is very much about them too, since their absence makes them even more exotic and, for some, worshiped. It also makes one rethink in new ways all the issues with teen pregnancy, abortion rights, and same-sex adoption and parenting. In a way, this play is a very big extended metaphor that works on many levels and challenges the viewer to draw his own analogies.  

The religious theme is developed concurrently with the above sex-gender confusion, and is also wonderfully executed. One does not always get to be present at the founding of a new religion: we hear about how the new Feminists act, what they want from their “gods”, and how a new “Bible” arises. Deities Jason and Mark nearly buckle under the pressure of knowing that every word they utter, whether in anger, jest, or seriousness, is being recorded for inclusion in a holy book of worship. The way in which two dudes who would rather be left alone (except for the monetary profit that accrues from all this) yet become religious icons is handled deliciously by the playwright. Certain casual (and profane) conversations are repeated throughout the play rather like Gregorian chant, transforming the whole play into a sort of religious service like one of the Passion Plays of old. I was vastly amused that on one Sunday morning I chanted the Lutheran rite of confession as part of my church choir gig, then heard nearly the same words during the play, adapted for the new religion. Mankind is that sort of play, easy to appreciate on a number of levels.

Kudos should also be offered to the rotating cube set design of Clint Ramos, looking rather like the house of the future at 1960s Disneyland, some creative riffs on how obstetrics evolves in the future, and the excellently chosen music/sound design of Lindsay Jones, rich with macho unison male choruses and religious music ranging from “Amazing Grace” to Gregorian Chant. In the supporting roles, past Tony-nominee André De Shields did a couple of memorably funny star turns as a lustful lawyer. 

Given this playwrights’s background in short vignette-like plays and one act comedy, it is very propitious to see him write such an extended, structurally sound, and consistently funny play that touches on so many modern political and religious issues so effectively. I look forward to Mr. O’Hara’s next effort, and strongly encourage you to see this play if it comes to your area.