Reset by Howard Ho

Finalist, O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, 2023

2020 Chernobyl. A man takes part in a secret new life-changing treatment that promises he will attain his “best self.” But what he thinks is a self-help retreat turns into a mind-bending quantum physics experiment that will reveal the devastating truths of what the future actually holds for him. Could his “best self” be the key to mankind’s salvation?
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Recommended by

  • Playwrights Foundation:
    30 Apr. 2024
    “ The community of National Committee readers for the 46th Bay Area Playwrights Festival advanced RESET as a Semi-Finalist at Playwrights Foundation. We were appreciated that the characters are carefully crafted, the dialogue is intellectually engaging, and the release of information about them is artful. We leaned into this philosophically provocative piece as the writer uses the scientific experiments as the form to explore core theme of the play. We hope this play is considered for further development and investigation, and finds dedicated collaborators in this play’s journey towards production. #BAPF46 ”
  • Tom Jacobson:
    22 Feb. 2024
    “ Howard Ho is a brilliant guy, and he takes us on a wild, theoretical and intellectual ride with Reset. The scientific thrust of the play supports profound emotional stakes as well, and a feeling of gleeful comic dread permeates the show (I saw the production at Moving Arts). The director, actors and designers clearly had a blast working in the futuristic milieu Ho creates, and I felt both moved and enlightened. Smart fun! ”
  • Ross Tedford Kendall:
    4 Jul. 2023
    “ A play that asks a very uneasy question, "will you like your future self?" The playwright crafts an intriguing story that shows how a person's quest to better themselves can often have unexpected results. Gives you a lot to think about, and how your plans for the future can be upended. The characters are great, and the premise is a winner. ”
View all 5 recommendations

JAMES, 20s-30s White man, an average educated American, decent but with demons lurking
LATEEN, 30s-40s African-British man, a quantum physicist with a posh English accent who spent his childhood in America, an upbeat nerdy presence delighted with his experiment
AIKO, 20s-40s Japanese American woman, a psychologist who speaks English with a standard American accent but occasionally has a Southern flair
OLD MAN, 50s-60s White man, James but 34 years older, who is successively...
1) Confused, troubled, and mentally unstable
2) Average middle class, bourgeoisie
3) A self-important and serious intellectual
4) A sleazy tyrant

Development History

  • Reading
    ,
    Moving Arts MADlab
    ,
    2020

Awards