Noah Schnapp, known for his role as Will Byers in "Stranger Things," stars in a new satire titled "Affluenza" at London's Riverside Studios. The play, written and directed by Andy Sandberg, critiques American culture through the story of Dylan, a wealthy young man who causes multiple deaths due to reckless behavior while under the influence. Despite featuring other cast members like Janette Manrara making her professional acting debut, critics find the characters one-dimensional and the narrative inconsistent, failing to provide substantial social commentary despite its ambitious themes.
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Story summary
In London, Noah Schnapp, known for playing Will Byers in *Stranger Things*, stars in the play *Affluenza* at Riverside Studios. The play, written and directed by Andy Sandberg, satirizes American culture through the story of Dylan, a reckless multimillionaire's son who causes multiple deaths after drinking underage. Despite mixed reviews, Janette Manrara makes her professional acting debut in this production, alongside Schnapp. Opening night saw an audience including fellow *Strictly Come Dancing* stars and Tess Daly. The play is part of a season featuring five new works by Sandberg over the course of nearly a year at Riverside Studios.
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The Stranger Things takeover of London theatre continues, with Noah Schnapp – Will Byers in the Duffer Brothers’ cult series – headlining this peculiar rollercoaster satire on American culture.
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Schnapp → continue → culture
His stage debut in the capital follows Sadie Sink’s superb West End Juliet and Linnea Berthelsen in the current, riveting solo show Darkling, and narrowly precedes another co-star, Gaten Matarazzo, in the much-awaited revival of Jonathan Larson’s musical Rent.
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debut → follow → Rent
Affluenza is the least roadworthy vehicle of the four, although the fact it also features Janette Manrara in what I believe is her professional acting debut ensured a decent turnout of her fellow Strictly dancers, plus Tess Daly, in Hammersmith on opening night.
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I → feature → night
The play is written and directed by Andy Sandberg (no, me neither, but he won a Tony Award at 25 as one of the producers of the 2009 Broadway revival of Hair) and is the first of five new works he will helm in a season covering the best part of a year at Riverside.
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he → write → Riverside
Schnapp initially plays Dylan, a feckless multimillionaire’s son who has caused multiple deaths and life-changing injuries in a car accident after drinking underage.
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who → play → accident
When he and his rude, vulgar parents fail to show any remorse for his actions or realise they can’t buy their way out of a manslaughter charge, their lawyer Brad enters a defence of “affluenza”.
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lawyer → fail → affluenza
Dylan’s family is literally too wealthy to have taught him right from wrong.
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family → teach → wrong
From a broad indictment of the super-rich, the play hopscotches forwards, chronologically and thematically, to swipe at the law, the media, attitudes to race and – eventually and bizarrely – reality TV, as the grown-up Dylan and his family reap the rewards of infamy in the second act.
Sandberg’s intention seems to be to keep the audience guessing with his twisty narrative and a surprise take on multi-role casting.
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intention → hopscotche → casting
Rupert Young, who plays the lawyer, Brad, later appears as the adult Dylan, and Schnapp returns as Todd, Dylan’s son.
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Schnapp → play → Todd
Manrara is first seen as a put-upon Mexican housemaid: then as a high-flying Latina attorney explaining why white car-crash victims play less well in the media than black or Hispanic ones; then again as the sound engineer in the trashy fly-on-the-wall series.
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victims → see → series
This might all work better if the characters had any flesh to them.
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characters → work → them
But they are functional stereotypes, manipulated into implausible scenarios to move the plot forward.
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they → manipulate → plot
Often the smart-aleck doubling up backfires.
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doubling → backfire → ?
But she pairs this part with a cartoonish, caterwauling turn as Crystal, the coarse Brooklyn girlfriend of the (sort of) grown-up Dylan.
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she → pair → Dylan
For the record, Schnapp is fine, and Manrara isn’t bad, but there’s no real depth to anyone or anything here.
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Manrara → ’ → anyone
Sandberg’s stagecraft tends towards the obvious as well as his writing.
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stagecraft → tend → obvious
Lighting states change as a victim’s father (Donald Sage Woods) toggles between his prepared statement to baying reporters and his true feelings (“shove it up your ***holes”).
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father → toggle → *
Exits trigger entrances, sitcom-style.
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Exits → trigger → entrances
The subject matter also feels curiously dated.
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matter → feel → ?
The super-rich are surely up to far worse now than dodging individual lawsuits.
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rich → dodge → lawsuits
The show’s take on reality TV feels like a relic.
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take → feel → relic
Designer Charlie Corcoran’s beach-house set opens out into other locations – lawyers’ office, apartment, fruit stand – but can’t help but look cheap.
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set → open → locations
You don’t get millionaire bling on a W6 budget.
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You → get → budget
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Sandberg’s five-play “Mainstage” season seems to be an attempt to give a sense of purpose and artistic coherence back to a once-vital venue that has struggled since it reopened after redevelopment in 2019.
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it → read → 2019
Next up are Sacrilegious by the writer of Dead Poets’ Society and a play called Expecting starring faces familiar from Game of Thrones, Harry Potter and Skins.
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Sacrilegious → call → Thrones
Let’s hope these, and the other two plays still to be announced, are better than this.
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these → let → this
The Aporia
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