Review: Mike Daisey’s The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs at the Public Theater

Review: Mike Daisey’s The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs at the Public Theater:

Frankly, because it is incredible. This is gonzo journalism at its finest. And every time Daisey turns over a new yellow page your heart will contract, because you are dying to know what comes next, and yet, you are horrified. Terrified.

Agony/Ecstasy is a tapestry of anecdotes about Daisey’s love for Apple, a brief history of Steve Jobs’ career, and devastating stories of his time as an investigative journalist in Shenzhen, China. It is the story of how Apple came to be, of how our modern consumer culture came to be, of how that cell phone ringing behind you in that woman’s purse came to be.

Agony/Ecstasy is also edge-of-your-seat compelling, even as it runs 120 intermission-less minutes—and that’s not because Steve Jobs just died and you’re waiting to hear how Daisey will address the loss. No. It’s because Agony/Ecstasy is a remarkable feat of storytelling.