TheaterWorks Hartford (Connecticut) and TheatreSquared (Fayetteville, Arkansas) present Russian Troll Farm: A Workplace Comedy with additional support from The Civilians (New York City). This play was written and produced for a digital platform and performed remotely. When the credits roll at the end, the cast list includes “volunteer tweeters.” At this moment in the presidential election cycle, how could you not be interested?
The play opens with a bit of fantastical foreshadowing. A wizard manages to grow trolls out of the ground. No one notices they are magical. The tsar summons his troll army. He tells them that a neighboring country is choosing a new king. The trolls need to ensure that “they choose a fool.”
Sara Gancher has written this comedy which is reflective of a major news item from the last five years. Russians interfered with the 2016 presidential election. Ms. Gancher takes us into the world of the Internet Research Agency in St. Petersburg. Right from the beginning, we know what this company thinks. “Americans are idiots.”
Depending on each employee, the outlook of their job is different. The bombastic Steve (Ian Lassiter), a disgruntled American, seems to believe they are saving the world. Nikolai (Greg Keller) thinks what they are doing is evil, “but I want to do a good job anyway.” Nerdy Egor (Haskell King, deadpan hilarious) previously worked in loss prevention at a WalMart in Nebraska. He cranks out a lot of volume but is chastised for too much Nazi content in his messaging.
The situations are indeed funny. Should you read the manual so you understand Americans? No, since you are “better off watching House of Cards or Ru Paul’s Drag Race.” Is this a job or is it a war? The characters debate whether they are mongrels in the golden horde or artists who are supplying mankind’s eternal need for stories.
Ms. Gancher makes sure that her tale contains some prickly zingers which make us reflect and consider the mission. No one growing up in the U.S.S.R. ever thought their country would end. But it did. “Never doubt a group of people can change the world,” she writes. Additionally, “Hillary kills babies in dungeon tunnels under Disney World.”
Killary Clinton jokes aside, there is a core sadness which I felt while watching this play. People actually believe this crap. My parents consume this horseshit by the shovelful. Russian Troll Farm is inherently a comedy draped in an invisible cloak of horror. The abandonment of critical thinking is one of America’s greatest failures. No one said it more clearly than Donald Trump when he uttered, “I love the uneducated.”
Office politics and sexual misadventures also play a part in the plot. There are tensions with the boss Ljuba, a tough, old, alley cat of a woman. When one of her employees wants to leave, she warns, “If you don’t come back to work you might want to leave the country.” Then she adds, “nothing personal.” The fourth part of the play focuses on Ljuba and it is one of the highlights of a creatively structured and diversely written piece. As Ljuba, Mia Katigbak is simply excellent.
The entire cast shines in their various characterizations. The multi-location digital collaboration has been capably and confidently directed by Jared Mezzocchi and Elizabeth Williamson. These actors are fully engaged with each other and not simply facing out to the streaming audience. There are many visual details to enjoy.
Is anyone a hero or even likable? That is not the point in a play which asks the question, “What’s the difference between Moses and Stalin?” In the midst of another presidential campaign, our intelligence agencies are again warning about foreign government’s meddling with our democracy. Russian Troll Farm could not be timelier. It’s billed as a comedy – and there are indeed laughs – but they often cut more deeply. That makes this play worth seeking out. That also makes the voting ballot worth casting during these next few weeks.
Russian Troll Farm: A Workplace Comedy is streaming live through October 24, 2020. After that, the play will have encore viewing on demand through November 2nd.
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