By: Darryl Reilly
Graham Greene’s eternal concerns of foreign intrigue, governmental authority and the loss of idealism, live on in playwright Rajiv Joseph’s short, minor and amiable memory play, Dakar 2000. In 1999 Senegal, a goofy, male 25-year-old half Indian and white Peace Corps worker becomes enmeshed with a wily, 46-year-old female State Department official; a strategic romance and covert operations ensue.
Mr. Joseph spins out this slender, two-character tale with a modicum of skillful dramatic writing. The first half is wayward, the second half is compelling with its pivotal episode of having the young man pose as a hotel bellboy to get the fingerprints of a passed out, possible terrorist. Y2K looms, providing conversational and narrative tangents. Ultimately, Dakar 2000 is a passable evening at the theater, at the subscriber-based, non-profit Manhattan Theatre Club.
Over emphatic, employing upspeak, gesticulating and dancing around, Abubakr Ali delivers a grating performance as the young man narrating the play from 2024. By the end, Mr. Ali has worn us out with his overacting, becoming quirkily charming. The magnetic Mia Barron is delightfully slick as the honey trapping spymistress. Ms. Barron totally embraces the character’s cold pragmatism for great dramatic effect. Ali and Barron’s palpable warm rapport is crucial to the presentation.
Director May Adrales’s overblown production emphasizes the temporal elements. Scenic designer Tim Mackabee’s turntable and a ramp transport us through time accompanied by the polished, though obtrusive use of Alan C. Edwards’ lighting design, Bray Poor’s sound design and Shawn Duan’s projection design. Emily Rebholz’s appropriate costume design relies on the exotic, the bureaucratic and the glamorous.
This is a story within a story, about a person within a person, in a time within another time.
(beat)
In a galaxy far, far away.
(beat)
All of it… is true.
Or most of it, anyway. Names have been changed. Some of the places have been changed.
Some of the boring parts, snipped away.
Some other stuff has been added to make it… theoretically more interesting.
But otherwise, all of it is almost entirely true.
So, Joseph begins Dakar 2000, signifying that we are in for an archly meta, 80-minute time. However, there is enough sincerity and passion for the play to succeed as a mild entertainment.
Dakar 2000 (through March 23, 2025)
Manhattan Theatre Club
New York City Center Stage I, 131 West 55th Street, in Manhattan
For tickets, visit www.manhattantheatreclub.com
Running time: 80 minutes with no intermission