No one misses the early days and dark theaters of the Covid pandemic, but the emergency workaround of streaming content was good for a few things anyway. People who formerly could not afford admission suddenly could, since much of it was free, and artists from anywhere could now be seen everywhere, with just a Wi-Fi connection. That’s how I first encountered “Russian Troll Farm,” a play by Sarah Gancher intended for the stage but that had its debut, in 2020, as an online co-production of three far-flung institutions: TheaterWorks Hartford, TheaterSquared in Fayetteville, Ark., and the Brooklyn-based Civilians. At the time, I found its subject and form beautifully realized and ideally matched — the subject being online interference in the 2016 presidential election by a Russian internet agency. But the production of “Russian Troll Farm” that opened on Thursday at the Vineyard Theater is an entirely different, and in some ways disappointing, experience.

---

Persons: Sarah Gancher, ”, “, Darko Tresnjak, Taylor Swift, Biden, Gancher, Russia —, Trumpism, Hillary Clinton Organizations: Vineyard, Internet Research Agency Locations: Hartford, TheaterSquared, Fayetteville, Ark, Brooklyn, Russian, St . Petersburg, Russia