Michael Lew’s new play, “Microcrisis,” explores the concept of microcredit, the process of taking out small loans, “micro” loans, and what happens when people take out so many loans that they can’t possibly pay back even over a lifetime, and what would happen if banks were unrestricted by laws and regulations in place.

The story starts off with a mysterious banker buying out two companies, and then proceeding to merge them to create MicroLoan, a loan company that provides instant credit to people without the need for credit checks, and other background checks.  When people who can’t pay back the loans take them out, the deregulated banks start charging interest rates of about 30 percent.

MicroLoan also sucks dry their investors and donors, using registered phone numbers of previous donors and constantly calling them to fund “Hiking trips to Mexico” and other worthless things, which is all just a big ploy to hoard billions upon billions of dollars.

Eventually, after MicroLoan becomes unregulated, then can charge interest rates of whatever they want.  Since loan takers take out huge loans, they start lagging on payments.  After they start lagging on payments, MicroLoan starts to charge interest rates of up to 30%.  This eventually creates a new economic crisis, and MicroLoan, the worlds leading provider in banking, is deemed “too big to fail”, and is given multi billion dollar bailouts, which, coincidentally, are spent on giving many employees huge bonuses.

Cashing out before days before the stock market crashes, or selling short, the employees make billions while the rest of the world is thrown into a 2nd Great Depression.  One scene in particular towards the end shows just to what extremes people will go to get their money back, and just how cold and uncaring people can be.

The story ends on a heart-touching tone, with a personal account of a person who lost everything in the banking and economic crisis.  This was a great performance, and I highly recommend you go see it.