What happens when health innovations meet venture capitalism? asks Aaron Loeb’s new play, R.O.I., now playing at Hampstead Theatre’s Downstairs space.
Willa (Letty Thomas) is a nervous but earnest scientist, claiming her start-up company is close to curing cancer. She seeks investment from May (Millicent Wong), her ‘pitch deck’ consisting of a pile of index cards.
It’s 2022, a world full of video calls, social comment and smart tech, so the disconnect is strong. As the play progresses into an indeterminate future, Willa becomes bolder, confident, and focused.
What, Loeb asks, is the cost of wanting to change the world when shareholders and profit are involved? When Paul (Lloyd Owen), a somewhat stereotypical ‘Peak Valley douchebag’ with a VR headset, yoga mat, and green smoothies, arrives, the dynamic subtly shifts.
It’s clear Loeb comes from a background in business from his detail and cynicism: director Chelsea Walker and designer Rosie Elnile run with this futuristic world of gleaming surfaces, hidden openings, and suggested entrances.
The audience is seated on three sides, with the central area given a head-on view. We can see one door, but there are others, plus a window, for us to imagine.
The actors sometimes leave the space through odd routes, adding to the growing dissonance and unease. The script provided by the theatre tells us the intention is to represent a range of spaces, but that isn’t made clear.
Paul, Willa, and May are close but competitive. Ethics, consent, and ambition simmer alongside bigotry, prejudice, and a cold, calculating focus. Documents are discussed; gifts are accepted (‘the more money I make, the more free things people give me”).
The focus moves from curing cancer – quickly done despite the interference of big pharma and Willa’s troubling white-focused fanaticism – to Alzheimer’s. It feels fantastical, almost cruel.
While the character trajectories are limited, May is clearly the conscience of the project as it unfolds, subtly changing from hard-nosed money chaser and male objectifier to ethical guardian of the needs of the poor and disadvantaged.
In this scenario, Willa knows how to twist the knife, playing both her investors to exert the maximum pressure. She holds May’s mother’s dementia over her, and exploits Paul’s unhappy marriage.
R.O.I. is bleak in many ways and certainly exploitative of those living with the direct or indirect effects of dementia. It has a strong start but slips by the end, and I found the character of The Woman (Sarah Lam) puzzling.
Some moments are tantalisingly dangled but not followed through fully: around music, banana trees, and foster homes. Originally written as a two-act, two-hour play, R.O.I. is now a 100-minute piece with no interval, but sometimes feels rushed.
Although there is much to think about with this play, I came away feeling Loeb hadn’t quite said anything new about the world we are sliding into.
I’m giving it 3.5 stars.
R.O.I. (Return On Investment) continues at Hampstead Downstairs until 11 Apr with tickets here.
Photo credit: Marc Brenner