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?
  • Recommend
  • Download
  • Save to Reading List

Reset

Recommended by

  • 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. ”
  • Shaun Leisher:
    12 Apr. 2021
    “ I am going to be pondering over this play for awhile. So many huge ideas to think over but I found myself as emotionally involved as I was intellectually. ”
View all 4 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