Jackman and Beatty in a Minimally Staged, Maximally Potent SEXUAL MISCONDUCT OF THE MIDDLE CLASSES — Review

It’s tempting to describe Hannah Moscovitch’s 2020 play, Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes, about a professor-student relationship, as a shifty game of cat and mouse, or any of the other seductive phrases typically assigned to stories of sexual imbalance. But the one-act, premiering in New York in a minimally staged, maximally potent production starring Hugh Jackman and Ella Beatty, is slipperier than that – less interested in the drama of the chase than in how it's processed and portrayed. To reflect how the older man is surprised to describe his pupil’s short story, it doesn’t “revolutionize fiction, but it was well observed, and it was fluid, and immediate, and his technique was sunk deep below the current of his prose.”

Told from his deceitfully charming first-person perspective (the kind at which Jackman excels), a popular novelist and college professor takes us through his aggravatingly stereotypical situation as a twice-divorced, currently separated midlifer who begins a flirtation with a freshman in his class. His getting the bulk of the dialogue – if not stage time, as she is often curled up on the side of the stage, watching him intently – does not mean Beatty is underused, or that her character is emotionally sidelined.. When she speaks, she cunningly embodies a blank slate that neither he nor the audience can fully decipher. It’s not the portrayal of an obvious cipher, rather one that becomes increasingly complex as their relationship goes on. Beatty walks this fine balance with an exquisite understanding of what’s required, expected, denied and overlooked of young women.

At just 80 minutes, it’s impressive how much plot and interiority Moscovitch is able to convey without ever losing a handle on either of them. She’s aided in this by Ian Rickson, who directs fine performances from his cast, who move around a few chairs and a desk on the mostly bare set (designed by Brett J Banakis and Christine Jones). The costumes (by Ásta Bennie Hostetter) are simple, the standout being Beatty’s red coat which haunts the man’s attention; strikingly both bright red and moodily dark. Isabella Byrd’s lighting and Mikaal Sulaiman’s sound and music round out the effective production, always emphasizing the work.

Sexual Misconduct feels like the one of the first post-#MeToo plays to engage with that movement’s themes astutely and comprehensively, not aiming for easy truisms or gotcha mic drops. As the play unfolds, Moscovitch’s clever project reveals itself to be a knottier one, gently teasing out her male character’s inner monologue as a way of letting him tell on himself.

This is the first output from Jackman and producer Sonia Friedman’s new Together initiative, which seeks to create stripped-down productions of new or adapted work in intimate settings. Accessibility is one of its goals, and one more-or-less achieved (tickets, around $170, could stand to be cheaper still). But as proof of concept of the value of more direct entertainment focused solely on play and performer, this is a thrilling success, and sign of great work to come.

‍Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes is in performance through June 18, 2025 at the Minetta Lane Theatre in New York City. For tickets and more information, visit here.