Assistance
Written by Leslye Headland
Directed by Joshua Aaron Weinstein
DCASE Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph (map)
thru March 16 | tickets: $12-$15 | more info
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Bringing workplace tedium to a slow boil
LiveWire Chicago presents
Assistance
Review by Lawrence Bommer
LiveWire Chicago Theatre knows how to bring workplace tedium to a slow—and sometimes fast—boil. Grueling to watch and torturous to perform (especially in the overheated Storefront Theatre), Assistance, Leslye Headland’s 105 minute urban nightmare, depicts slackers trapped in a snake pit. No question, this one-act will ring true for twentysomethings stuck in dead-end, rote-learned, repetitious drudgery.
The entire operation is geared to support the care and high maintenance of an imperious celebrity whose continuous harping and niggling phone calls must never be put on hold. His every need must be anticipated to avoid becoming one more casualty in a steady turnover of broken careers. So the six “assistants” convey in deadly detail the assorted metaphorical fires that the employees must put out, hoops to jump through, damage to control, exit strategies to protect their asses, and coping mechanisms for the constant crises that beset this manic office. With all the overlapping of machine-gun dialogue, it’s hard to figure out each brouhaha–everything is so one-sided–but there’s medicine that Daniel needs yesterday, flights to schedule, meetings to arrange and people to fire.
At its best the play captures the diverse human responses to a white-collar hothouse where promotion is impossible and the minions are mere accessories to Daniel’s ego. Headland expertly conveys the claustrophobic tension, on-the-job clowning, blame throwing and dodging, dovetailing complications, and free-floating paranoia: Joshua Aaron Weinstein’s detailed and focused staging delivers recognizable reactions and survival strategies. There’s long-time first assistant Nick (Brian Crawford) who must train new girl Nora (Lauren Fisher), who’s briefly gung ho for the job, then quickly burns out. (Nick and Nora, get it?). Nick in turn has replaced manic-depressive director Vince (John Taflan).
Completing the human zoo is Heather (Krista D’Agostino) as a human sacrifice, turning on her family for letting her uncle die, which meant she had to get compassionate leave to attend his funeral but gets canned instead by sadistic Daniel. She’s replace by oily opportunist Jenny (Hilary Williams), a seductive intriguer who has her own mad scene at the end. Finally, there’s bully boy intern Justin (Matthew Nerber), a true-believing dupe who doesn’t mind when Daniel has his chauffeur run the car over his foot and who finds his obsequious wussiness richly pranked in a wicked act of sabotage from Nick.
Assistance will no doubt send shocks of recognition through younger members of the audience. This is the kind of torture chamber where if someone “goes postal” and does a workplace shooting or two, there could be cause. The audience, however, gets the picture well before the play ends. So we’re left with what’s barely satisfaction enough—six competent, well-cast performances of transient toilers at the end of a collective rope. The fact that these aren’t our jobs is cold consolation in a very hot theater.
Rating: ★★½
Assistance continues through March 16th at DCASE Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph (map), with performances Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30pm, Sundays 2pm. Tickets are $12-$15, and are available by phone (312-533-4666) or online through BrownPaperTickets.com (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at LiveWireChicago.com. (Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes, no intermission)
Photos by Austin Oie
artists
cast
Brian Crawford (Nick), Krista D’Agostino (Heather), Lauren Fisher (Nora), Matthew Nerber (Justin), John Taflan (Vince), Hilary Williams (Jenny)
behind the scenes
Joshua Aaron Weinstein (director), Anders Jacobson and Judy Radovsky (scenic design), Rachel Parent (costume design), Eric Branson (lighting design), Stephen Ptacek (sound design), Vivian Knouse (properties design), Michael Trudeau (technical director), Christina Lepri (production manager), Caitlin O’Rourke (stage manager), Chris Tabor (asst. stage manager), Rikka Leigh, Jackie Richard (run crew, interns), Austin Oie (photos)
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