Kyoto fits snugly in the worn formula of a character guiding us through a historical event and their personal role in it. 

With one twist: in this new play — now at Lincoln Center in a production that doubles as a reunion of the brainstrust responsible for The Jungle — the orator (Stephen Kunken) is a lobbyist, a vocation that all of us have heard of, that we acknowledge can reshape the world…yet can you name any piece of art that focuses on showing us a lobbyist in action?

Exactly. 

And whereas the narrative engine of the aforementioned formula is generally driven by diplomacy in action, Kyoto’s central lobbyist has one goal: to stall diplomacy. His ideal dramatic action is stasis, fighting against the winds of change. How does he go about achieving what is essentially a form of stopping? How does he use bureaucracy and diplomacy to…stagnate bureaucracy and diplomacy?

In this sense, Kyoto feels like a comedy of manners about geopolitical deliberations.