Within the realm of the work place, office politics can get ugly ““ from the rivalry between coworkers, to the dangers of sexual harassment. Yet, sometimes when these situations become extreme, it can be pretty funny.
Making fun of office politics is at the heart of “Eat the Runt,” which centers on a character named Merritt, who is interviewing for a grant writer position at a museum. Things become complicated as Merritt makes each of his interviewers uncomfortable, from hitting on one of his bosses, to pretending to be a psychic. Merritt’s identity is soon called into question, resulting in more hilarious situations and twists.
One of the play’s highlights is that each performance is guaranteed to be unique for each audience. The cast consists of eight actors, all of whom memorized the lines of all the characters in the play. Before each performance, the audience is able to choose which character each actor will be playing for that particular performance by picking names out of a hat.
For the opening night show, each actor fit the character they were randomly chosen to play. As a cast, everyone had chemistry with each other and no one faltered on their comedic timing.
Especially noteworthy were performances by David LM McIntyre (playing Merritt’s boyfriend), Krista Conti (playing Sidney, an ex-alcoholic) and Joel Scher (playing the museum curator with a drug problem, Hollis). All three made the play particularly entertaining, delivering some of the best comedic moments.
McIntyre’s portrayal of a man going through a religious experience is perhaps the only full-on physical comedy during the play. McIntyre gives it his all, falling to the ground and shaking intensely, all the while muttering incoherently.
Meanwhile, Conti is hilarious as Sidney, who struggles in trying to be politically correct in the office. Conti plays up her character’s awkwardness. From her stuttering to her subtle pauses and shifty eye movements, she effectively shows her character’s nervousness and discomfort.
Scher, in turn, is perhaps the most exaggerated in his portrayal of Hollis, from his dramatic gasps, his high maintenance ways and his childish whining and begging. However, rather than being over-the-top, Scher is able to make his character funny instead of annoying. Scher makes Hollis into a drama queen with a drug problem, and he becomes especially entertaining when he finds out that Merritt knows about his addiction, which only causes him to become more erratic and dramatic.
Despite the play’s funny moments, there were times when the comedy became juvenile and a bit random. For example, when Merritt is interviewed by the human resources coordinator, Jean (played by Dawn Greenidge), Merritt begins talking about his hemorrhoids, which somehow serves as a bonding topic of conversation with Jean. Rather than being funny, the scene seems to serve as a filler.
The play also includes awkward short scenes that allow the audience to see what the characters are up to behind the scenes, such as when Sidney secretly returns to drinking. Rather than comedic, these scenes look strange as the actors rush around on stage in fast motion, becoming especially exaggerated in their movements.
While having the cast rotate its roles each show makes the play unique, one of the downsides to this is that each actor’s performance will feel especially raw. There were times in the play where the actors forgot their lines. As a result, there were awkward moments of silence as the actors tried to figure out what to say.
The play’s flaws do not take away from the general lightheartedness of the show. All the actors are charming in their own right, and the play does provide some critical commentary on office politics without being overtly obvious about its messages.
Ultimately, the ending is sure to leave you smiling, all the while making you shake your head at just how outrageous working in an office can really be.