In his comedy Franklinland, which debuted at Chicago’s Jackalope Theatre in 2018, and is now playing a limited engagement at NYC’s EST (Ensemble Studio Theatre, where it received a workshop production in 2014), playwright and Pulitzer Prize finalist Lloyd Suh takes a humorous look at the fraught relationship between American Founding Father, inventor, scientist, writer, and statesman Benjamin Franklin and his illegitimate son William. Filled with historical and biographical facts, and filled in with wacky personal interactions, the story portrays the elder as a great mind, brilliant inventor, and eloquent proponent of lofty ethics, but a pompous egomaniac and terrible father, who, determined to mold his boy into his own image, callously insults and constantly belittles him, and doesn’t apply his high civic ideals to his own parenting. To paraphrase the Declaration of Independence, he gave him life but denied him liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Noah Keyishian and Thomas Jay Ryan. Photo by Jeremy Daniel. Presented as part of The EST/Sloan Project – a collaboration with The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, with a mission of encouraging theater artists to create new works that explore science and challenge stereotypes of scientists in popular culture – the engaging three-hander, directed by Chika Ike, is informative, insightful, and funny, while driving home the serious message that being supportive and proud of one’s devoted and industrious progeny, who is trying his best to succeed, is much more admirable and civil than overblown arrogance and pride in one’s self. Starring the perfectly cast, laughably discordant duo of Thomas Jay Ryan as Benjamin Franklin and Noah Keyishian as William Franklin, Suh’s quick-paced storytelling and Ike’s active blocking take us through six significant dates and locales in their lives, from 1752-85, Philadelphia to the Atlantic Ocean, London, and New Jersey, where William, a British Loyalist, served as Royal Governor, pushing the already strained family dynamics to the breaking point, and, of course, triggering running Jersey jokes and eye-rolling from Ben (it’s all in jest; Suh is a professor at NJ’s Princeton University). Thomas Jay Ryan and Noah Keyishian. Photo by Jeremy Daniel. Ryan’s uproariously narcissistic Franklin is prone to expatiate on his theoretical ruminations, discoveries, inventions, and socio-political paradigms, boastfully reiterating his own great name (“I’m Ben Franklin”), and insensitively denigrating his subservient son, who, he feels, can’t possibly live up to his expectations or reach his level of intelligence, putting him in potential danger with his famous kite experiment, and even turning an awkward invasive question about William’s sexual activity into a philosophical exposition on the values of masturbation. Keyishian, by contrast, embodies a naïve, striving, and sympathetic William, desperate to comprehend the intellectual complexities of Ben’s work (he can’t), expressing his ingrained wish to be just like him (he isn’t), and hoping to elicit the respect of his father, a leader in the American Revolution, for his appointment as a colonial governor by the King of England (he doesn’t), while portraying the character’s development, with humor and purpose, in his changing tone of voice, readily legible facial expressions, and body language. Their mutual lack of understanding (both frequently and confusedly asking, “What?”) and opposing alliances result in a slapstick-style physical confrontation between them, chasing each other around the stage, childishly throwing paper at one another, then going for the groin. Noah Keyishian, Mason Reeves, and Thomas Jay Ryan. Photo by Jeremy Daniel. Rounding out the fine cast is Mason Reeves as William’s more accepting son William Temple Franklin, also born out of wedlock (one of the few ways in which William followed in his father’s footsteps), who appears in the final scene in London, seems to have inherited the best traits of both of his forebears, and brings the hope of the titular “Franklinland” full circle. An authentic artistic design recreates the style of the 18th century and transports us into the world of the Franklins. Riw Rakkulchon’s stationary aged wooden set and antique furnishings function smartly as the various sites, from a barn in Philadelphia to the ship crossing the Atlantic to the meeting rooms in London and NJ, with a window through which we see the lightning and hear the thunder that fascinated Ben, with lighting by Carolina Ortiz Herrera and sound (and original composition) by Daniela Hart, Bailey Trierweiler, and Noel Nichols of Uptown Works. Specific props by Thomas Jenkeleit highlight the contributions of the elder Franklin as inventor of the lightning rod, urinary catheter, glass harmonica, and bifocal glasses, and period-style costumes by Christopher Vergara are impeccably researched and replicated. Noah Keyishian and Thomas Jay Ryan. Photo by Jeremy Daniel. As always with Lloyd Suh, Franklinland is sharp-witted, entertaining, and edifying; you won’t just learn more about three generations of Ben Franklin’s family and the era in which they lived, you’ll also get some universal truths about human behavior and the ideals to aspire to, along with a lot of laughs. It’s a great comedy, a terrific cast, and a spot-on design; that’s a win/win/win. Running Time: Approximately 75 minutes, without intermission. Franklinland plays through Sunday, November 3, 2024, at Ensemble Studio Theatre, 545 West 52nd Street, NYC. For tickets (priced at $30-40, $25 for students and seniors, plus fees), go online.