Frank Bonner’s life is splitting at the seams. Bonner (played by Nael Nacer) has lost his job, his wife, and, thanks to the COVID-19 lockdown, his contact with the social world. “The Moderate” tells his story with a well-paced and engrossing script by playwright Ken Urban and bracing direction and design by Jared Mezzocchi. Befitting the theme, Frank occupies the stage alone for most of the play, sitting at his desk. The multimedia production projects his face above the stage, on the walls, and even in the seats. When Frank talks with his estranged wife Edyth (Celeste Oliva), she appears only on screens.
They remain deeply connected in spite of their separation. Edyth fulfills a traditional spousal role, advising Frank what to wear for his job interview, guiding him to the right necktie, reminding him how to tie it. Frank is nevertheless bereft. Edyth took their son, Edward. Frank has begun unaccountably yelling at him and generally behaving in ways that frighten the young teenager.
Everything is riding on the interview. If Frank can win and keep a job, he thinks, he can win back both his family and his self-respect. Frank seems to be in his early to mid-40s; his interviewer, Martin (Greg Maraio), is in his late 20s or early 30s. He doesn’t wear a tie. His manner is relaxed and even intimate.
Frank thrills to the offer he receives but worries as he listens to Martin spell out the job. He will be a “content moderator,” one among tens of thousands who view flagged pornographic, racist, violent, or otherwise problematic texts, videos, and images. He will be working for a major social media platform, albeit indirectly. His company works for a company that works for a company that works for a company that works for the platform. This distancing, co-worker Rayne (Jules Talbot) explains, stems from the platform’s desire to evade legal responsibility for its content. Frank doesn’t believe he has viable options. What he doesn’t understand — because he’s not capable of listening — is that the solitariness of his new job will not change his family fortunes. Edyth left him due to his antisocial existence.
His impairment soon costs him. When he reviews a series of videos made by Gus (Sean Wendelken), a young teenager repeatedly beaten by his father, he greenlights the post in a misbegotten hope that someone seeing them will intervene. When that doesn’t happen, Frank puts everything on the line to rescue a boy who reminds him of himself. Cue disaster.
Nacer is excellent in a demanding role, conveying with expression, tone of voice, and verbal pacing a variety of emotional reactions to this brave new world in which he finds himself. Oliva and Maraio also stand out in a strong ensemble. “The Moderate” indeed works as both art and social criticism. The play explores the lives of content moderators formally tasked with making digital life safer yet informally — as Martin remarks — seeing themselves as the garbage men of the internet. Frank’s mentor and a would-be union organizer Rayne sums it up: “This job changes you, and it’s up to you to decide how.”
The Moderate plays at Central Square Theater through March 1.
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