Theatre in Review: On the Evolutionary Function... (Second Stage, Pershing Square Signature Center)The title of D. A. Mindell's play, On the Evolutionary Function of Shame, is an act of misdirection; shame is the least of it. The real problem eating at everyone here is the pursuit of knowledge that comes with unwanted implications. First up are Adam and Eve, our Biblical ancestors, right after they've taken bites out of that notorious apple. To be sure, they are ashamed of their transgression; after all, God gave them one rule and what did they do? But, as Eve notes, "We're supposed to know what he knows, now. So, we must be able to do that, too. Make things. Change things." And thus, the scientific method has its premature birth. The action fast-forwards to the day after tomorrow when new discoveries breed fresh dilemmas. Adam 2, a pregnant trans man, is undergoing an ultrasound under the ministrations of his sister, Eve 2, a physician. Originally inseparable twins, their relationship has grown increasingly fractured; he isn't thrilled about being treated by her -- even for free -- but a previous miscarriage was devastating, and he doesn't want to go through that again. (Although Mindell doesn't get into it, pregnancy can be a complex proposition for a trans man, especially regarding the regulation of hormone treatments, and it's important to find a savvy, sympathetic doctor.) Adam 2 takes an especially dim view of Eve 2's career as a genetic engineer. Defending her work with something called The Eden Project, she notes that her colleagues have discovered a gene that can predict Alzheimer's; remove it, and the risk more or less vanishes. You'd think Adam 2 would be more impressed since their father is slipping into dementia. But the penny really drops when Eve 2 announces she has discovered the genetic marker for gender dysphoria, making it possible to do away with it altogether -- news that sends Adam 2 into a tailspin. It's a provocative idea, or it was when playwright Jonathan Tolins tried it thirty-plus years ago in The Twilight of the Golds, about a gene that predicts homosexuality in the unborn; your reaction to Mindell's play may depend on your tolerance for such what-if scenarios. (Personally, I think the world is in bad enough shape without having to invent such problems.) Still, it allows Adam 2 to eloquently express the fears that so many trans people must feel right now, when the world, not especially friendly to begin with, is baring its teeth at them. Eve 2 insists she only wants to remove the suffering her sibling endured. "I believe that humanity is perfectible," she says. (Has she looked around lately?) Adam 2, horrified to hear that her findings will be featured in a reputable journal, replies, "The first intern in DC who subscribes to Junk Science Daily finds your publication, they take it right to their boss. Suddenly, Congress is debating whether they want to make this mandatory...They'd debate it. They'd get it national attention. They'd get it on Fox News. They'd get every drunk uncle in America talking about how, finally, we don't have to worry about the indoctrination of our children anymore, because we can make your children impossible to indoctrinate." Despite its willingness to hit certain nerves On the Evolutionary Function of Shame is a tyro work, shaped by aspirations it can't fully meet. The scenes with the original Adam and Eve, which recur throughout, are total washouts, like Nicholas and May sketches minus the laughs. (Their first scene features an embarrassing number of small-dick jokes.) Whenever Mindell aims for smart boulevard-comedy repartee, the result is embarrassing. "Adam, you don't have a monopoly on being nervous," says Fox, his nonbinary partner. "Too late," Adam replies. "I already own Boardwalk and Park Place." Fox, complaining about their unspecified job, says, "I just want a manageable caseload." Adam cracks, "God, there's a dick joke in here somewhere. Me being attracted to your work ethic, saying 'massive caseload' all sexual. I'll get there." Actually, he won't. We are also subjected to lazy pregnancy gags -- about pickle cravings and pants that no longer fit -- seemingly cribbed from somebody's decades-old standup routine. Then again, the domestic scenes featuring Adam 2 and Fox are often warm, amusing, and thoroughly believable. (As it happens, Fox hasn't been entirely honest about a few things, implicating them in Eve 2's plans, which leads to considerable -- and dramatically compelling -- strain between the partners.) And Cody Sloan brings a four-alarm urgency to Adam 2's arguments, making them impossible to ignore. Still, certain passages are overloaded with speechmaking, and the play never seriously explores the idea that one can be transgender without experiencing gender dysphoria. "Plenty of trans people wouldn't have realized they were trans in the first place if they weren't dysphoric," Adam 2 reasons. "Especially people without community, without language. It's like -- if you step on a nail, you need there to be pain; otherwise, you're never going to know to take the nail out. And then you get tetanus. And then you die." Or is Mindell playing into the trope that to be trans is to necessarily be tragic? More consideration is needed. Ultimately, Mindell never fully gets at the play's core -- the intensely close relationship between twins sundered by Adam 2's self-realization and Eve 2's career choice -- which carries profound emotional implications for both characters. The trouble between them needs deeper examination; we also need to hear more about Adam 2's journey from unhappy childhood to his new identity. This play's complex setup can't be given its due in only ninety minutes, especially when shared with an uninteresting Biblical subplot. In addition to Sloan, who is a real find, the rest of Jess McLeod's production is well-cast, beginning with Ryan Jamaal Swain, radiating warmth and gentle good humor as Fox. Jordan Barbour (no relation to me) and Elizabeth Ramos do their best as the original Adam and Eve, even when their story veers into unearned tragedy. If Kayli Carter struggles a bit, it's probably because the role of Eve 2 is so one-note. Imani Russell is delightful as Margot, Eve 2's colleague, an on-the-spectrum truth-teller. One of the evening's biggest laughs comes when Margo reminds Eve 2, who suddenly has cold feet, that the Eden Project's ethics board approved her research. "Since when is the ethics board the arbiter of what's right and wrong?" Eve snaps. "Eve...they're the ethics board!" Margot the relentlessly logical replies, trying to process this new line of thought. If You-Shin Chen's scenic design -- which takes in an examining room at the Eden Project, Adam 2 and Fox's apartment, and several other locations -- looks a bit lost on the vast Irene Diamond Stage, it is at least built for fast changeovers. The lighting by Barbara Samuels and Keith Parham is solid without being especially distinctive, its best features are some attractive color washes on the upstage cyc. The inventive costume designer Hahnji Jang devises starkly different looks for Adam 2 and Fox and wittily dreams up a series of increasingly sophisticated outfits, based on palm fronds, for the original Adam and Eve. Bailey Trierweiler's sound design includes rock music, Dean Martin's cut of "You Make Me Feel So Young," and effects like thunder and street traffic. On the Evolutionary Function of Shame is part of Second Stage's Next Stage Festival, designed to showcase emerging playwrights, which was previously held at the company's intimate uptown venue. Mindell is still in graduate school, and I'm not convinced this play was ready to be seen; it's a collection of the good, the bad, and the silly, and it looks a little exposed in this large and prominent space. But Mindell has something to say, and his points sometimes land with force. Let's hope this company keeps supporting him. --David Barbour 
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