'The Unknown' Off-Broadway review — Sean Hayes shines in more ways than one in this solo thriller

Read our review of The Unknown off Broadway, written by David Cale, directed by Leigh Silverman, and starring Emmy and Tony winner Sean Hayes in various roles.

Summary

• The Unknown is a thriller play about a writer who believes he's being stalked
• Sean Hayes gives an impressive star turn as he embodies a dozen different characters alone on stage
• The story keeps audiences guessing but breezes through too many ideas and themes to fully satisfy

Write what you know, so it’s said. The Unknown, David Cale’s twisty multi-character monologue highlighting Tony and Emmy winner Sean Hayes’s talents as a quick-change chameleon, indicates the playwright is well aware that an author’s life can bleed into — and blur with — his characters. And vice versa.

Speaking to us directly, Hayes initially steps up as Elliott, a lonely gay New York City writer in disarray. Credit an unsettling encounter with a troubled actor, Joey Grant, who tried out for one of Elliott’s shows but was rejected. Elliott becomes convinced he’s been targeted for revenge, and instead of filing a police report, he pursues his alleged stalker and parlays the risky situation into grist for a screenplay. Because of course he does.

In short order, the play’s population expands. We meet Joey’s gay twin brother, Jack, and their sibling, Peter. Elliott’s married friends Larry and Chloe pop in now and then. As nearly a dozen total characters arrive, so do our questions: Is Elliott actually being harassed? Is this all in his mind? Can we believe him? Whose story is this, anyway?

Conversely, there’s no doubt Hayes handles the required shapeshifting impressively. Guided by director Leigh Silverman, he brings Elliott and company seamlessly to life with subtle shifts in accent, tone, cadence, and behavior. (Was that character chewing gum?) Watching him is a pleasure.

But the play itself isn’t fully satisfying. One aim of a thriller is to keep an audience glued and guessing, and The Unknown checks that box. Cale knows his way around atmospheric solo works, as seen most recently in his 2025 play Blue Cowboy, another story of a writer. Cale has an ear for dialogue and an eye for detail, peppering Elliott’s saga with NYC locales: the iconic Greenwich Village gay bar Julius', Soho House, Bank Street, the Q56 Jamaica Ave. bus route in Queens, LaGuardia Airport. We’re drawn into the action.

Thematically, however, the play is too diffuse for its own good. Over its 75 minutes, it skims over juicy ideas about identity, creativity, desire (“I Wish You’d Wanted Me,” a fictional song from a show Elliott wrote, is a recurring motif), rejection, isolation, and friendship without diving deep.

Throw in a couple MacGuffins, like mentions of untied shoe laces and Elliott’s former lust for Larry, and The Unknown feels all-over-the-place while leading to a final switcheroo that seems to change all that’s preceded it. An engaging ride? Sure. Yet as a theatrical mind game that leaves a mark or raises a shiver, The Unknown left me wanting.

The Unknown summary

David Cale’s The Unknown is a solo play about a New York City writer who appears to fall prey to stalking by a jilted actor, and then to paranoia. The show contains about a dozen characters, all portrayed by one actor (Sean Hayes).

In its world premiere off Broadway at Studio Seaview, The Unknown serves as the final installment in a trio of solo thrillers by Cale and director Silverman, following 2017's Harry Clarke and 2022's Sandra at Vineyard Theatre.

What to expect at The Unknown

In addition to the various characters he embodies, Hayes has other company on stage: the fine work of the design team. Each element lends texture. Studio Bent’s bare black set puts the focus on Hayes, Sarah Laux’s street-clothes costumes feature a fitting shade of grey, Cha See’s ever-dramatic lighting lends shadows, Isobel Waller-Bridge’s original music sets the mood, and Caroline Eng’s soundscape makes sure we hear every word.

What audiences are saying about The Unknown

During early performances, The Unknown earned praise from audiences on Mezzanine, an app for tracking and reviewing theatre.

• “Sean Hayes is so good! [...] The story is also really interesting and soapy. I was interested in knowing how it was going to end. You could say I was on edge of my seat. [...] Unfortunately, the show doesn’t land the ending.” – Mezzanine user Isaac Mason
• “The characterization of Elliott needs work, as currently he’s just a stand in for playwright David Cale [...] This broad spoof on playwrights and the process of writing would work better for a downtown audience.” – Mezzanine user BA
• “Sean Hayes was definitely amazing! [...] The storyline was twisty and left you deciding/questioning what actually happened. Maybe a little too much? But overall I’d recommend.” – Mezzanine user Clair Sapperstein

Read more reviews of The Unknown on Show-Score.

Who should see The Unknown

• Sean Hayes’s fans will appreciate the actor’s foray into solo work as a departure from his previous roles on TV in Will & Grace and in Broadway's Promises, Promises and Good Night, Oscar.
• David Cale fans will enjoy how his new play speaks to his other monologues, especially ones that center around writers.
• Theatregoers who appreciate the complexities and variations in the solo format will savor Cale’s approach. In some shows, one narrator tells the whole story. But characters come and go here, and that keeps the audience on their toes.

Learn more about The Unknown off Broadway

Between an intriguing air of mystery threaded through the show and an impressive star turn by Sean Hayes, The Unknown is a play you’ll want to get acquainted with.

Learn more and get The Unknown tickets on New York Theatre Guide. The Unknown is at Studio Seaview through April 12.

Photo credit: Sean Hayes in The Unknown off Broadway. (Photos by Emilio Madrid)