Revenge of the Soy Boy
Written by Justin Avery Smith Directed by Jacob Musgrove
Presented by the New York City Fringe Festival
April 4, 2026
‘Revenge of the Soy Boy’ was a show where I didn’t know quite what to expect walking in. The title intrigued me, I love Star Wars, and I love politically charged theater - so it seemed right up my alley. What I ended up getting was much more heartwarming than I anticipated.
Justin Avery Smith’s solo show revolves around his personal connection to Star Wars, and his fight against the rejection of the incels online who claim it for themselves. As the legacy of a lot of media tends to go, the metaphors for resistance and depictions of fascism went right over the heads of the keyboard warriors Smith has encountered on the internet.
By taking the audience through the entire journey of multiple key characters in the Star Wars franchise, he draws apt parallels to his own life; whether it’s moving out to go to college, feeling afraid of ‘sticking out’ as a child, or even discovering his extended family were not who he thought they were, he brings in multiple forms of media to tell his story. Speaking to the ‘video’ version of him projected on the screen upstage, or showing us actual clips from the movies enhanced the performance itself.
Speaking of his own connection to one of the most popular franchises of all time also raised a lot of questions about how art can be interpreted. You can write something with your own intentions, but how it’s picked up and talked about for decades to come is out of our hands. This is a conversation I know is essential for all of us to continue having, as it seems the Star Wars world becomes more and more relevant to our own with each passing day.
Smith is an extremely intelligent and nuanced performer, and his vulnerability onstage only serves to make these connections stronger. With humor and drama, he brings the two worlds together wonderfully - that of Luke Skywalker’s, and our own.
Review by Niranjani Reddi.
Published by Theatre Beyond Broadway on April 6, 2026. All rights reserved.
