This Much I Know
Firdous Bamji. (Photo: Carol Rosegg)
By Fern Siegel (Posted Sept. 30, 2025)
“Once you see, you can’t feign blind.” The line is courtesy of Stalin’s daughter Sventlana, commenting on perception and reality. Played to perfection by Dani Stoller, she is one of several compelling characters in Jonathan Spector’s This Much I Know, now off-Broadway at 59E59 Theaters.
Spector, who won a Tony for “Eureka Day,” a satiric look at California school vaccines, has taken a deep dive into psychology and the fascinating ways we acquire knowledge and make decisions. Inspired by Nobel winner Daniel Kahneman’s bestseller “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” the dramatic version tackles such topics with theatrical flair. Three actors — Firdous Bamji, Dani Stiller and Ethan J. Miller — take on various roles and accents seamlessly. The trio’s ability to switch characters in a split second showcases their versatility.
The play opens as Lukesh (Bamji) welcomes us to his university psych class. He explains the complexity of thinking, logical vs. intuitive, with enthusiasm. The lecture draws us in, providing rich intellectual challenges. The erudite professor also expounds on how lies can morph into personal “truths.” He admits language can be confusing, as evidenced by a text his wife has just sent, informing hm: ”I’ll be gone for a while. Possibly forever.”
That’s but one interesting story line. The others include coping with a student, the son of a well-known white supremacist, who espouses many of his father’s beliefs. Based, in part, on the author of “The Klansman’s Son,” the young man’s pro-Nazi childhood is challenged by his university experience. Can he change his mind or are beliefs too deeply ingrained? Conversely, we meet Sventlana, who grapples with her own tortured history and en route, how her legacy affects the professor’s wife. As for the professor, his didactic approach to his spouse’s personal travails proves costly. “Nothing that occurs in our lives can really affect our happiness one way or the other,” he claims.
Hayley Finn neatly directs a socio-political rollercoaster tethered to frayed lives and related narratives. Did Stalin’s daughter betray her childhood friend or did Stalin, who doted on his “little bird,” ignore his daughter’s pleas for an innocent couple’s clemency? Do we reject ideas when logic and truth intervene, adapt for expediency’s sake or hold fast to uncertainty?
The cerebral This Much I Know invites audiences to thoughtfully examine how we make judgments. There is a muscular quality to the production, aided by giant portrait projections that underscore the tyrannical nature of authoritarian ideology.
This Much I Know is aided by Misha Kachan’s spare scenic design, Mona Kasra’s clever projection design, effective lighting and sound by Colin K. Bill and Sarah O’Halloran, respectively, and a superb cast who embody their roles with striking credibility. Stoller can be both fierce and vulnerable, while Miller hits the right note with his nerdy bigot. Bamji, our guide/educator, keeps the pace moving and the discussions lively.
Produced by Theater J, Spector’s provocative play would be even stronger without an intermission. Still, the work smartly probes humanity’s contradictions and complexities — and leaves us wanting more.