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Post by capybara on Mar 27, 2024 10:23:41 GMT
Caught this yesterday and thought it was… OK. Well, not as bad as many of the reviews had suggested in any case!
True, the piece doesn’t quite know what message it is trying to convey but for the most part it was quite interesting to watch the office dynamics. It touches on racism and sexism but feels like there is more to say here.
Natalie Lauren was brilliant as Arabella but most of the male characters were pretty one dimensional.
Three stars.
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3,321 posts
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Post by david on Mar 27, 2024 12:58:20 GMT
I’ll file this one in the “ok” rating and from reading the reviews of the critics, they seem to be doing the same with a 1-3⭐️ rating being the general feeling and I can’t really disagree with these rating’s unfortunately. Sadly, this one didn’t put many bums on seats with around 20 of us watching it this afternoon. The run time for this was really uneven and certainly didn’t help in the pacing of the piece. A 70 minute Act 1, 15 min interval and 25 mins Act 2. Protracted scene changes also impacted on the pace of the piece.
Farine Clarke’s play written back in 2007 but only first performed in 2021 is set in 1999 as electronic media starts to make its presence felt and tells the story of an attempt by an acquisitions publisher to buy out an electronic media company. Within the acquisitions company we follow all the office politics, racism, bullying and misogyny that takes place within the boardroom while trying to seal the deal.
Whilst I don’t have any complaints about the cast 6 who do well with the material, with Natalie Lauren as Arabella and Simon Furness as Charles who are able to provide some depth to their roles and have some nice bits of comedy. Unfortunately the rest of the cast are stuck with characters that are very 2D caricatures of very unlikeable office staff / management with little chance to develop as the plot unfolds.
With the writing, there are lots of ideas, particularly in Act 1 being looked at giving moments of real interest and depth. One scene exploring racism in the workplace is particularly hard hitting but the piece is let down by the ending whilst shocking didn't really marry up with the tone of the piece prior to that and felt unearned in its use. I think whilst a lot of the ideas and their impacts in a 2024 working culture
can still be seen and felt just as much as when the play was first written, whilst providing both some dark comedy moments and some language that may shock, the play for me didn’t pack enough of a punch for a satisfying trip to the SWP.
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