Review: OVERSIGHT at Hyde Park Theatre

Artificial intelligence has become one of the defining conversations of our time, reaching far beyond Silicon Valley into government, business, national security, and nearly every aspect of modern life. L.B. Deyo's Oversight draws on that reality, crafting an ambitious political thriller that asks not only where AI may be taking us, but whether we are already further down that path than we realize.

Set entirely inside an undisclosed government bunker, the play begins with what appears to be a routine oversight meeting. As the hearing unfolds, its true purpose gradually comes into focus, bringing together representatives of government, the military, and OpenBrain (sound familiar?), the company at the center of the debate. Each arrives with competing agendas and vastly different understandings of the technology they have been asked to confront.

Deyo structures the hearing as a series of revelations. OpenBrain's chief scientist, Karim Najah, never tells the committee the whole story, allowing each new disclosure to reshape both the discussion and the audience's understanding of the company's intentions. What begins as a conversation about China's rapid AI development and the threat it poses to national security gradually shifts toward requests for military protection of OpenBrain's data centers, priority access to the electricity and water required to power AI's increasing computing demands, and close cooperation between government and private industry.

By confining the entire story to a single hearing, Deyo turns what could have been a static debate into a steadily escalating political thriller. The conversation rarely stays in one place for long. National security gives way to corporate influence, semiconductor manufacturing, environmental resources, legislative urgency, and the growing demands AI places on infrastructure. Rather than building a single argument, Deyo deliberately broadens the discussion, illustrating how deeply AI already touches modern life.

Only later in the play does a far more unsettling picture emerge. The committee learns that OpenBrain's current AI model has become so powerful it requires containment. More disturbing still is the suggestion that the technology may already be influencing the very process meant to oversee it. Deyo wisely leaves those implications unresolved, allowing uncertainty to become one of the play's most effective dramatic devices.

That ambition is both Oversight's greatest strength and its greatest challenge. Deyo introduces an extraordinary range of ideas, often moving to the next just as the current discussion becomes especially compelling. At times, the script relies on exposition to navigate its dense subject matter, though it helps keep the audience oriented as the conversation expands. Even so, the writing remains clever and engaging, raising timely questions without pretending to have simple answers.

Under the direction of Marcus McQuirter, the production maintains a brisk pace that keeps the dialogue-driven script engaging throughout. The ensemble works well together, grounding characters rooted in satire with enough authenticity to make the play's questions feel surprisingly real. It was refreshing to see Jessica Cohen in such a mature role after the last time I saw her on stage as Little Red in Into the Woods. Laura D'Eramo gives a quietly effective performance as the Secretary of State, while Dana Mara brings steady composure to Congresswoman and committee chair Erin Johnston as the increasingly chaotic hearing threatens to slip beyond anyone's control. Justin Smith provides many of the evening's biggest laughs as a Vice President whose unmistakably JD Vance-like persona becomes one of the production's sharpest satirical touches.

Robert Pierson's Senator Greune offers an effective counterpoint to the increasingly urgent debate. Unconvinced by both the technology and the claims surrounding it, his scepticism introduces another perspective into an already crowded discussion, reminding the audience that uncertainty exists not only about AI's future but also about whether its promises and dangers should be accepted at face value.

Without revealing the play's final twist, Oversight leaves audiences with an unsettling possibility: while governments and corporations debate what AI might become, has it already begun reshaping the world around us? If the technology can influence conversations, generate convincing human likenesses, and shape the information surrounding us, how do we distinguish between what is human and what is artificial? More importantly, has that line already begun to blur?

That question feels especially relevant today. AI-generated images, cloned voices, fabricated videos, and increasingly convincing online content are already challenging our confidence in what we see and hear. Oversight extends that anxiety into its fictional world, suggesting that the greatest danger may not be some distant technological future, but the possibility that the future has quietly begun while we are still debating whether it is coming.

If Oversight occasionally feels like several fascinating conversations unfolding at once, that is ultimately part of its appeal. Artificial intelligence has become too vast and too influential to fit neatly into a single debate, and Deyo embraces that complexity without pretending to have all the answers. The result is a timely and thought-provoking new work that lingers long after the hearing has ended.

Cast: Rommel Sulit as Open Brain's chief scientist Karim Najah, Jessica Cohen as Ms. Ogden, Open Brain's young engineer, Robert Pierson as Senator Greune, Dana Mara as Congresswoman and committee chair Johnston, Laura D'Eramo as the Secretary of State, Justin Smith as the Vice President, David Kroll as General Stossen, Janelle Buchanan as the stenographer, and Brent Werzner as OpenBrain CEO, Adam Harriman.

Duration: 90 minutes, no intermission.

OVERSIGHT
Written by L.B Deyo
Directed by Marcus McQuirter
Produced by The Zahir

Now playing through August 22nd, 2026
Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 PM

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