Friends from their online incel forum Miller (Zachary Desmond) and Target (Christopher Dylan White) decide to meet in-person.
In Degenerates, playwright Else Went explores the world of incels—typically heterosexual males who cannot form romantic or sexual relationships with women for a variety of reasons. Went’s script immerses the audience in incel and online slang, such as redpill (the belief in an alleged truth about women and the sexual marketplace) and weeb (a fan of Japanese popular culture, particularly anime) as it focuses on some of them, frustrated by loneliness and desiring unconditional love. The incels’ world turns out to be riveting theater.
The play, directed by Emma Rosa Went, opens with an online forum, where the characters discuss what it feels like to be an incel. One says: “Nobody’s jealous of me. I’m an agoraphobic NEET hikikomori at eighteen—nineteen heyy—and—it’s weird but it felt . . . good?” (Throughout the 2¾-hour play, Olivia Rose Barresi provides voice-over commentary, a relief from the relentless bro-speak.)
Target (Christopher Dylan White) challenges Miller (Zachary Desmond) to decide whether to be true to his feelings.
The group’s leader, Miller (Zachary Desmond), holds forth on how incels have become traumatized. Although seemingly supportive, he ultimately counsels acceptance or, if all else fails, checking out. He invokes French writer Albert Camus: “Camus talks about how the only serious question in life is whether to kill yourself or not.”
Miller dominates the chat with his snarky take on how incels are perceived and insists on the need for community. “Think about like, Tucker [Carlson], [Ben] Shapiro, [Joe] Rogan, all the top guys just prey on us, like our loneliness is a commodity they’re mining, and we don’t get shit!”
The others join the stream to seek support and a way out of their loneliness. Kemp (Tyler Nowell Felix) joins after calling a suicide hotline. He recounts a school dance that ends with his date texting him that she was not attracted to him. The rejection becomes an obsession as he struggles to understand why. Serge (Juan Arturo), a newcomer to the group, reveals that he has a child. Outraged, Miller immediately disqualifies Serge from membership, and he is banished.
Target (Christopher Dylan White) lives alone and supports himself as a sex worker; although he is a man, he says, others perceive him as a woman because of his feminine appearance. He seems to experience gender dysphoria and rarely leaves home. He describes his intense, reflexive hatred of others, explaining that it takes over and feeds upon itself:
It’s cos when I’m not in my own space, I hate people. Everyone, for existing, I hate. … and if I look at them too long, sometimes a couple seconds even, it’s like a reflex, I just hate.
“Director Went paces the production well, allowing the frantic online exchanges to soften into quieter intimacy. ”
After Serge’s dismissal and Kemp’s departure following Miller’s abuse, Miller and Target plan to spend time together. Their first time meeting in-person becomes a turning point, setting both on paths toward what they desire and forming the emotional center of the drama.
Although the script is an exhaustive deep dive into incel culture (perhaps at times too deep for an unfamiliar audience, although there’s a glossary in the lobby), director Went paces the production well, allowing the frantic online exchanges to soften into quieter intimacy as Miller and Target pursue their mutual attraction. Their extended scene challenges conventional expectations of attraction, particularly given the characters’ insistence that they are men, real men. Yet their desire for each other is undeniable.
The director guides the actors through a potentially uncomfortable encounter that acknowledges the emotional risks of intimacy. The scene lays bare the tensions underlying their relationship. Although Target delivers his lines in a whispery voice, he possesses an inner strength and determination to change. Miller, for all his bluster, is afraid to embrace change in pursuit of love. Amid their anguish, both begin to acknowledge what they truly want.
Kemp (Tyler Nowell Felix) tries to engage Stacy (Olivia Rose Barresi) in conversation with a free bubble tea as an enticement.
The set by Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams captures their contrasting home lives. Miller’s room resembles a dormitory, complete with a microwave, refrigerator, and clothes hamper serving as a bureau. Target’s room looks like a TikTok set after an explosion of stuffed animals. Both spaces reveal their occupants’ personalities.
In Act III, the setting shifts to a simple arrangement of café tables, with a luminous cascade of colored leaves falling against the backdrop. It is a welcome reprieve from the claustrophobic rooms that dominate much of the play.
Degenerates presents a multitude of issues facing the incel community and deftly captures the feelings and beliefs of its members. In doing so, it offers insight as well as emotional engagement. Ultimately, the play delivers a beautiful lesson about loneliness, the human need for connection, and the courage it takes to embrace love—a lesson worth learning.
Degenerates runs through Nov. 8 at Playwrights Horizons (416 West 42nd St.). Evening performances are at 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Sunday, except for no show on Tuesday Nov. 3 but a show on Monday Nov. 2; matinees are at 1:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For tickets and more information, visit playwrightshorizons.org.
Playwright: Else Went
Director: Emma Rosa Went
Scenic Design: Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams
Costume Design: Kindall Almond
Lighting Design: Jiyoun Chang
Sound Design: Angela Baughman
Video + Projection Design: S. Katy Tucker
