The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs by Mike Daisey

It is difficult to know how to characterise Mike Daisey’s hour long monologue about the exploitative working practices of the Fox Conn factories used by the global technology giant, Apple. It is part anthropological lecture on the power of computers and the internet to change the way we view the world ("If you have never given any thought to your operating system you are living an unexamined life," quips the narrator), part political speech from an Apple apostate, and part excellently realised theatre.

Daisey’s monologue has been revived in its original, unexpurgated form (Daisey was forced to make cuts after it was revealed he couldn’t verify all his claims first hand) by Grant O’Rourke for Edinburgh. O’Rourke’s performance is never less than perfectly pitched—throughout the course of the hour he manages subtly, almost imperceptibly, to change his narrative persona from that of a Jack Black-alike loveable geek to a campaigning journalist fuelled by righteous anger.

Could Daisey’s monologue be accused of being preachy? Probably. But it is the way he mixes chilling tragedy with light touch humour which gives the play its lasting power. The realisation of horror only comes after the laughter. Similarly there are times when it feels like Daisey is not sure what he is trying to expose—the ruthless genius of Steve Jobs or the working practices at Fox Conn?  For all this, The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs feels like important theatre, and it is salutary to be reminded that it is not only the apples of Eden which corrupt.