Festival review: Would be nice though...; Pleasance at Essential Edinburgh (venue 114)

By david Pollock
Published on 17/08/2012 16:48

A SENSE of confusion persists as the 12-strong audience embark on this site-specific work in a smart ex-tenement office suite above George Street.

As the real occupants of the office peer out into the corridor, the audience are herded by an usher wearing industrial ear protectors into an upstairs hallway and told someone will be with them shortly. Nobody comes. And so, the beginning of the impersonal job interview is recreated. Things quickly take a turn for the nonsensical, however.

Without giving away the key gimmick, the group is led through an interactive representation of the interview experience. There’s a roll-playing exercise (that’s not a typo), a knowingly substance-free PowerPoint presentation, and a team-building game which involves trying to construct a rejection letter out of office stationery.

It’s a well-conceived piece and the performers maintain just enough control over proceedings to drag things forward. But at the risk of wishing for a play that isn’t here, that it should bank on fluffy absurdity – when there’s so much tension in the interview experience now more than ever – feels like something of a waste.

Rating: * * *

Until tomorrow. Today 12:30pm & 4:30pm.