By Lindsay B. Davis
“Hey, ping pong is great for your mental acuity, bro. I’ll send you the podcast,” is the kind of mentoring Jonas (Brandon Flynn), a tech bro working in Silicon Valley, gives his junior colleague Maneesh (Karan Brar), a recent college grad in User Experience (UX) at the fictitious data-mining firm Athena Technologies. The thrilling new Off-Broadway play, Data, begins with Sorkin-esque dialogue performed over breakroom ping pong: Maneesh deflecting invitations to Taco Tuesday while Jonas worries that a new top-secret project will threaten his job security.
Enter Maneesh’s colleague and former college friend Riley (Sophia Lillis), who works in analytics and knows about Maneesh’s brilliant honors thesis—a predictive algorithm for baseball performance—and how it might serve the team. She puts his résumé in front of her superior, Alex (Justin H. Min), a charismatic engineer determined to win Athena’s bid for a Department of Homeland Security contract.
Together they poach and promote Maneesh for reasons that go beyond the obvious, catapulting him into a dark new world where his actions—or inactions—could have massive implications. Brar navigates the secrets and reveals beautifully, injecting Maneesh with humanity as he inches toward the truth like a tightrope walker.
When workplace drama becomes a moral crisis
Timely, incisive social commentary with tender undertones isn’t the only reason to see Data. It’s gripping enough to command your attention for 100 intermissionless minutes, thanks to Tyne Rafaeli’s sharp, sophisticated direction and outstanding performances. Highlights also include seamless scene transitions executed in total darkness (Amith Chandrashaker’s lighting keeps you on edge), Daniel Kluger’s experimental techno score, and Marsha Ginsberg’s smart, minimalist scenic design featuring stark office grays and pops of color.
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The play grapples with ambition, fear, workplace loyalty, AI ethics, and how to locate a moral center in a world that feels increasingly Orwellian by the nanosecond. While the language is serious and heady, it’s not overly insider-baseball.
Data isn’t exactly a piece you “enjoy,” given the current political and social climate. The most unsettling thing isn’t what happens on stage—it’s recognizing how much of it is already happening off it.
4 out of 5 stars
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Fast facts: ‘Data’
Data transforms workplace ambition into a taut, unsettling thriller that feels less like fiction and more like a warning.
- Lucille Lortel Theatre, 121 Christopher Street, New York City
- Running time: One hour and 40 minutes, no intermission
- Performances through March 29, 2026
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