PORTLAND CENTER STAGE’S production of Adam Bock’s The Receptionist has an unusual history: The script was first produced in Portland in 2008 by CoHo Productions. After that show’s successful run, Portland Center Stage—who previously produced Bock’s The Thugs—picked it up, keeping the same director (PCS Associate Artistic Director Rose Riordan), and several of the same actors (including Sharonlee McLean, who snagged a Drammy for her performance the first time around).
Reproducing the show was in many ways a safe bet by PCS—after all, Portland audiences have already vetted the script and direction. But it’s hard to find fault with a safe decision when it results in a wider audience getting to see a show like this one.
Much of Bock’s script focuses intently on the minutiae of office life: The set foregrounds a receptionist’s desk, where Beverly (Sharonlee McClean) mans the front lines of the office, answering phones, hoarding pens, and listening patiently to the romantic misadventures of her unstable party-girl coworker Lorraine (Laura Faye Smith). A good 45 minutes of the production dwells here, amid ringing phones and coffee breaks. The women’s boss, Mr. Raymond (Robert M. Thomas), is out of the office, and a man from the “Central Office” waits for him to return, patiently enduring Lorraine’s unsubtle attempts at seduction.
Bock’s portrayal of office life is dead-on, and McClean is utterly believable as the competent, good-naturedly put-upon receptionist. It’s only when Mr. Raymond returns to the office, though, that the real power of Bock’s script is revealed.
This is not a show that relies on shock value, but it would do a disservice to give away too much of the surprising second half. Suffice to say that Bock takes a strong moral stance on “just following orders” complicity in contemporary warfare. By addressing the issue obliquely, instead of head-on, Bock generates a profoundly effective metaphor—one driven home by a suddenly tremulous McClean in the play’s final moments.
It’s a great show, easily the best thing I’ve seen at PCS this year—although if you saw the CoHo’s production, be warned that, at least according to my theater date, who saw both shows, the two productions are virtually identical. If you missed it at the CoHo, though, don’t let it pass you by again.
I saw the Coho production last year, ably directed by Rose Riordan and with knockout performances by Sharonlee MacLean and Laura Faye Smith. That core artistic team carries over into the PCS production, which I have not seen. (Chris Murray and Gary Norman were great in the Coho show, but had a schedule conflict this time around since both were in the “Hamlet” that just closed at Coho). Blah blah blah, enough context. Wait a doggone minute. While writing this, I just remembered that I wrote a damned good review of last year’s production, which you can read here: http://cultureshockpdx.blogspot.com/2008/1…
Back to the moment: I understand the arguments made by both sides in a spat on Portland Center Stage’s site. I empathize with the perception that the play is just an extended office scene without much really happening…until we get the surprise twist in the second half–a surprise that is a little heavy-handed and “messagey.” The Anti-Receptionists would have really hated PCS’s production of Adam Bock’s “The Thugs” which never really went anywhere at all, though it was packed with details.
My recommendation is that you approach “The Receptionist” as you would a well-written short story: You’re not getting a whole novel; it’s a slice of a story, exquisite in its detail but leaving a lot unwritten and up to the imagination. If you hate the kind of modern short fiction that doesn’t follow a neat plot trajectory, you might not like the play. But if you just pay attention to the details and let the tension build, you might have a good time.
“The Anti-Receptionists would have really hated PCS’s production of Adam Bock’s ‘The Thugs’ which never really went anywhere at all, though it was packed with details.”
I really hated “The Thugs” (http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Co…), actually. But I think your short story comparison is a helpful one: The show really is in the details,and it’s far more than the sum of its ‘big reveal’ and its message. (Not to mention, there seems to be a fair amount of disagreement as to what that message even is—I didn’t for a second read the show as an indictment of office culture itself, as some of the PCS commentors seemed to.)
Alison, what proves your credentials as a theater critic is that you called what happens in the second half of “The Receptionist” a “big reveal” whereas I called it a “surprise twist.” There’s a difference and I am humbled. Here’s a tip for theater-goers who aren’t sure what the message in a contemporary play even is: If anything seems vaguely ominous and menacing, it’s about 9/11.
As an office worker enjoyed it – great topic and well presented.