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Disclaimer: I read the play Restitution, by Brandt Ryan, in a professional capacity. In other words, I received remuneration to do so in order to offer feedback. This has not affected this review, which is entirely independent, my own initiative, and a result of my having found the text impressive.

Restitution, by Brandt Ryan, is a one-act play. It takes place on the platform of a New York subway station, late at night, in the summer of 1990. The title of the play alludes to restitution payments claimed by Jewish survivors of World War II, and is also a thematic element in the story.

The play involves two young grifters, Figgy and Margot, who are anxiously awaiting for someone to arrive in order for their swindling plan to take form. While waiting for the arrival of this person – a street performer being the only other presence on the platform – they discuss the details of their con, reflecting on ethics as well as practical dangers involved.

That’s basically all you need to know before entering the world of the play. Because the characters take over immediately, creating an engaging, dynamic story.

Restitution: Characters and Dynamics

Since Restitution is a play, rather than a novel, I choose not to use the regular division you can find in some of my other reviews. In other words, I won’t be talking about genre and plot, since these aspects (especially the former) are far less important in a play.

Plays are about characters and dynamics. They are about acting (there are delightfully multiple meanings hidden in this deceptively simple word).

Subtlety and Affect

The notes accompanying the play mention four characters, and though all are important in their individual roles, Figgy and Margot are clearly where the story resides. The interplay of their personalities – some parts overlapping, others diverging – offers an excellent canvas for the pigments of the story to appear.

The best part about the characters – and, therefore, the play – is how subtle, highly realistic their personalities are. The text balances perfectly between the need for dramatic expression and narrative restraint, providing the audience with food for thought, however without spoonfeeding it.

A way of describing what the play is about is this: It’s a creativeThink what you will of my deliberately ambiguous word choice! exposition of the conflict between what we want to do and what we think we want to do. Yeah, I could have said it more simply – how about: between desires and duty – but the story is more complex than that. I must phrase it in necessarily complex terms, because this isn’t just a matter of “do your duty, let go of your wishes”.

No Neat Separations

Rather, Restitution brilliantly explores a much more affective aspect of self: What happens when what we naively call “duty” or “desire” overlap? What is the outcome of a situation where we feel divided because we both want and don’t something? How can we deal with situations that cannot offer a clear-cut solution?

Very loosely – and only in terms of this complexity – this aspect of Restitution reminded me of something I said about Yukio Mishima’s Confessions of a Mask:

The whole point of the story, in actual fact, is the immense difficulty we face in establishing our own identity.

Like a wave incessantly reaching the shore only to retreat back into the ocean, the protagonist goes through increasingly more complex and sophisticated insights into understanding, followed by ever-deeper realizations of his failure to comprehend anything at all.

His psyche is in a constant war with himself, but that, too, is a misnomer. There aren’t two neatly separated sides, polar opposites that offer naïve dilemmas. In the world of Confessions of a Mask there is no such thing as “straight or gay”, “happy or sad”, “brave or coward”.

For Figgy, the matter isn’t whether he should “do the right thing”, but whether – and the predicament is meant for us all – it makes sense to even ask the question.

Restitution: Narrative Evolution

The play is structured solidly. Both its organization and its evolution are clear and easy to follow, yet very intelligent. The interpretative possibilities are numerous, and it’s up to the audience to decide “what happened” – a welcoming, refreshing hue of authenticity in a sea of overexplaining and flawed narrative exposition.

When all is said and done, although Restitution features an obvious beginning and a seemingly evident ending, in retrospect, the audience must wonder: Is everything as it seems? Is what I suspect really possible? Restitution respects its audience in that it does not attempt to answer these questions. In my review of Life, by Lu Yao, I mentioned the following:

Life, by Lu Yao, poses such questions. The problem is that not only does it actually attempt to answer them – there are no real answers to such questions – but that it does so in a narratively naïve, uninspiring manner.

Most literature I come across attempts to actually answer such questions, which, of course, is a narrative trap. Attempting to directly answer unanswerable questions rarely ends well, but it’s an error many inexperienced authors commit, likely out of fear the audience “won’t get it”.

Not Restitution. Brandt Ryan approaches the story with exceptional respect for his audience, offering everything – in plain sight, I would argue – but never crossing the dreaded line of excessive specificity. There are many questions posed by the play – related to conscience, identity, and the repercussions of our individual actions. But the answers belong to the audience alone.

Restitution: General Impression

There is an inevitable problem with reviewing the script of the play, rather than the play itself. I am aware of thematic elements that audiences will not be privy to, at least not directly. Moreover, acting (again that lovely word…) presents interpretative opportunities that greatly exceed the confines of the text and arguably authorial intention.

In any case, I believe it is precisely because of elements such as these that I expect Restitution to be a remarkably interesting play. If the script – with all its inevitable limitations – manages to invoke such intense affective reactions, the performance of the play can only be even more engaging.

What I enjoyed the most about Restitution was the subtlety, the restraint, and the variety of interpretative possibilities offered. Restitution treats its audience not as silly children who need to be explained everything, but as participants in the creation of meaning. Fantastically refreshing!

Restitution, a play in one act. Written and directed by Brandt Ryan. July 09 & 10, 2021, The Cat Theatre, Carmel, IN. The creator is open to the possibility of doing performances in other venues. To inquire, contact Brandt Ryan .

Also take a look at my review of Brandt’s short film, A Trick of the Light.