David Knell was the only actor on the stage of the Ivy Tech Waldron Rose Firebay in Thursday’s performance of Cardinal Stage Company’s production of “The Agony & the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs” by Mike Daisey.
Knell, playing the role of the narrator, described Steve Jobs’ life, the technology and the labor conditions in China where the electronics are manufactured within a theatrical monologue that lasted for about an hour and 40 minutes.
“This is the first time I’ve done a one-person show,” Knell said. “It’s a freaking lot of words. According to the word document, it’s almost 15,000 words, and I had to learn them all.”
The production is part of the IU College of Arts and Sciences’ 2015 Themester: “@Work: The Nature of Labor on a Changing Planet.” Themester is a program that hosts events that inform the IU community about an issue.
The show opened Nov. 5, and the remaining performances are at 5 p.m. Nov. 14 and 21, 4 p.m. Nov. 15 and 22 and at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 19.
Director Randy White said he likes that the story is passionate and shows the possibility of theater leaving a mark on the world.
However, he said he finds Daisey’s work challenging because he said he thinks it is both terrific and problematic.
“The Agony & the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs” features details about Foxconn — the factory in China where Apple products are produced — that were criticized by journalist Ira Glass for their inaccuracy.
Journalists who looked into the issue after the release of Daisey’s monologue found aspects of the play were exaggerated or fabricated, such as descriptions of underage workers at the factory or of guards carrying guns, White said.
The work might be problematic and contain fabricated material, but it did bring attention to the true labor issues going on in China by inspiring journalists to investigate, White said.
“You can call him out on it and you can question him, and you’re right to do so, and at the same time he isn’t a journalist,” White said. “He should have been clearer about that.”
Knell, who has acted in films such as “Splash,” “Turner and Hooch,” “Spring Break” and “Total Recall,” said it was his first time working in Bloomington.
Knell has a personal connection to the subject of the play because he has worked for Apple in the past. One part of the monologue focused on the period where Apple was struggling in the absence of Jobs.
Part of Knell’s job was to speak to people on the phone and say Apple was doing fine. A similar situation is described in the monologue.
He said he became interested in the play because he knows a lot of Apple’s history.
Knell’s first performance in front of an audience was Thursday.
“For me, that’s where it really gets fun,” Knell said. “Every performance becomes different because the energy of the audience is going to be very different. Some people are going to respond and some people not so much, and I have to keep going even if people are not with me at all.”
The script has been edited to be more accurate, but the Cardinal Stage Company is presenting the original version, Knell said.
Knell said the original version is better because it is more pure storytelling.
“The Agony & the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs” is in the tradition of people weaving stories in “an old fashioned, around the campfire kind of feeling,” White said.
“It’s a piece of over-the-top storytelling, and the one-person format begs that,” White said.
