Monson Arts Council, Monson,MA
through June 9, 2013
by Jennifer Curran
“The Interview” is an original work written by local
playwright Matthew Guthrie and directed by Kathleen Delaney. Set in a representation
of an office, the premise of the play is a job interview. The intent of the
writer is to deconstruct corporatism as seen through the eyes of the
interviewee, The Man.
This production is stripped down to the basics. An almost
bare stage, simple lighting, a small table, two chairs and a large rectangular
arch made from unpainted, unfinished two by four’s frames the two characters at
the table. Several video monitors are at the corners of the stage. It is clear
from the beginning that this is not a realistic set and the play itself centers
itself in the realm of experimental theatre. There are no characters here;
there are archetypes of humankind. There is little story. Rather, the play
attempts to use action without an obvious through-line to represent humanity at
its best and worst. Corporatism is the villain here and humanity is its victim.
The highlights of the play are scenes in Act II where The
Man (Owen Hayden) and The Woman Act 2 (Kate Johnson) begin to have a purpose:
to create a list of questions for an interview. Their struggle to accomplish
that simple task is exactly corporate America. Here, we finally get a sense of
The Woman and why she is there, want she wants and what makes her tick.
Unfortunately, but for those few moments in Act II, the
production simply doesn’t accomplish what it had set out to do. Due to the lack
of a clear story-line, inexplicable lighting cues and awkward blocking, the
audience wasn’t even aware of a killing on the stage or that the play had
ended. The director cued us from the back of the house, “That’s it! That’s the
end. You can go now.”
