'Data' Off-Broadway review — gripping new play pushes tech-world tension past the rally point

Read our review of Data off Broadway, playwright Matthew Libby's new tech thriller starring Karan Brar, Brandon Flynn, Sophia Lillis, and Justin H. Min.

Summary

• Data is a thriller play about a young tech employee facing a moral dilemma at work
• The show will resonate with viewers in the tech world and features a uniformly strong cast
• The show is recommended for other thriller plays like Job and fans of rising talent like the cast and playwright Matthew Libby

Ping pong, it turns out, is good for your mental acuity — or so says Jonah, a user-experience (UX) designer at predictive-modeling tech company Athena, where breaks in the workday include ping-pong matches, working out, and planning social events. Not everyone at Athena, the fictional setting of the new play Data, has the luxury of downtime, though. The data science team is buried in a top-secret project. As tensions mount, the audience is volleyed back and forth, uncovering what really lies between the walls of this Silicon Valley workplace in a gripping new play.

Maneesh, Jonah's frequent ping-pong opponent and fellow UX designer fresh out of school, is poached for the data science department when his programming talent is discovered. His honors thesis produced an algorithm that can successfully predict baseball players’ performance, and he made it closed-source after oil companies approached him about using it to predict rare events. But Athena has its own dark agenda for the algorithm involving a high-stakes government project that raises questions about human rights.

Playwright Matthew Libby, who holds a cognitive science B.S. from Stanford, writes from clear familiarity. And this critic, whose day job is at a California-based, venture-capital-backed tech company, recognized the play’s characters immediately: Maneesh (Karan Brar), the brilliant wunderkind carrying the company’s future; Jonah (Brandon Flynn), the tech bro enamored with workplace perks; Riley (Sophia Lillis), a tightly wound high achiever driven by crushing student loans; and Alex (Justin H. Min), the career-obsessed boss for whom a work-life balance barely exists.

Together, the cast forms a seamless ensemble of top performers onstage. Lillis, most recently seen in the TV miniseries All Her Fault, holds her own as the sole woman onstage, mirroring the gender imbalance in tech. She stands out for an expressive performance, as she battles burnout until the brink of explosion.

Director Tyne Rafaeli shapes the play’s rhythms with precision, from the abrupt halt of ping-pong balls during moments of deep thought to the humor that emerges as the gravity of work culture seeps in. The work stress is so real it’s almost funny. “I'm feeling a bit on edge... but that's okay, right?" says Riley. "This is how you're supposed to feel in your 20s. Figuring out how to do this for the next 50 fucking years."

Another demonstration of precision is the stage management team, who transform the windowless box of a sleek office (scenic design by Marsha Ginsberg) through swift blackouts, swapping in colorful modern furniture, the ping-pong table, and standing desks between scenes.

This moral-dilemma play contains several unexpected twists and turns, including a few that draw audible gasps from the audience at the performance I attended. The lone flaw is that part of Maneesh’s family backstory, the driving force behind his career choices, feels underdeveloped. But this thrilling new play is worth your time — even if you’re a tech employee trying to unplug from that world after work.

Data summary

Maneesh is fresh out of college and joins Athena as a UX designer at a leading tech company. When the head of the data science team discovers his honors-project algorithm, which can successfully predict rare events in baseball, Maneesh is quickly recruited for the department. There, he confronts a morally questionable project and must navigate protecting his algorithm from misuse while weighing his ambitions against doing the right thing.

Karan Brar reprises the role of Maneesh, which he originated when Data premiered at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., in 2024. Previously, in 2021, Data premiered as a digital production with the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta.

What to expect at Data

Data runs 1 hour and 40 minutes without an intermission. Audience members sensitive to flashing lights should be aware that scene changes include strobe effects around the proscenium. Because the Lucille Lortel Theatre's ground-level seating area has only a slight incline, sight lines can be difficult for shorter patrons. Consider sitting closer to the front, toward the center aisle, or in the mezzanine.

What audience members are saying about Data

In the lead-up to the show's opening, audiences took to social media to share their thoughts on the cast, the show’s thorny themes, tone, and experience at the venue.

• “I was pretty surprised at how accurately it captured the current motivations and personalities of the tech scene!...Some things need to be tightened IMO, and the transitions started killing me at the end, but mostly came out of it positive.” - Reddit user u/pineapplemoons
• “Karan Brar made the least impression on me, even though he was the protagonist. But I almost feel as if that was because of where my seat was, on the extreme right of the house. At curtain call, I was surprised to see his face full on—I felt I had never really gotten a good look at him. Is it possible he was always either facing away or at the stage right (the scenes at his desk)? This might have been just the performance I saw, of course.” - Reddit user u/UtahDesert
• “The play explores the ethical dilemma of being complicit in human/civil rights abuses committed by corporations and the government (in this case, as junior employees at a tech company). I'm a scholar of immigration law and found the play's content (on immigration adjudication) compelling and extra timely. But the show is less about politics and more about ethics, which I appreciated.” - Reddit user u/kefirpits
• “I saw it over the weekend! Thought it was really good, but also love Brandon Flynn lol. It was an interesting story, exciting, and thought-provoking in my opinion. Anyone interested in going, just please be aware that during set changes, there are extreme strobe lights coming from all around the stage. I have seizures, and it was not a pleasant surprise, and I did not see any photosensitivity warnings anywhere beforehand.” - Reddit user u/spacealien846

Read more audience reviews of Data on Show-Score.

Who should see Data

• Theatregoers will enjoy Data if enjoyed Max Wolf Friedlich’s 2023 thriller Job, an intense two-hander set in the tech world.
• Those who saw and enjoyed Data at Arena Stage would enjoy seeing updates for the play. According to Reddit users, the play has been cut down, and the ending changed during previews.
• Audiences who like seeing new works by new voices should follow Matthew Libby, who is sure one to watch.
• Fans of Brandon Flynn, who is best known for playing Justin Foley in Netflix's 13 Reasons Why, will enjoy seeing him take on the role of Jonah. Flynn’s Off-Broadway theatre credits include playing Marlon Brando in Kowalski in 2025.

Learn more about Data off Broadway

This tech thriller explores the ethical dilemmas of big tech and the moral underpinnings of contemporary work culture.

Learn more and get Data tickets on New York Theatre Guide. Data is at the Lucille Lortel Theatre through March 29.

Photo credit: Data off Broadway. (Photos by T. Charles Erickson)