Office drama fails to meet targets: 'Saxon Court'

By J Sydney-Leigh

London recruitment agency, Saxon Court, is suffering during the financial crisis of winter 2011. Companies aren’t employing new staff, making Saxon Court somewhat redundant in the atmosphere of the penny-pinching credit crunch. The phones don’t ring, the Occupy movement is swelling outside the front door, and resulting frustrations simmer amongst the staff on the day of the office Christmas party. There are some touching, and equally humorous moments leading towards the play’s climax: someone will be fired.

What the piece lacks is relevance; it feels somewhat dated. We were all directly or indirectly affected by the credit crunch, but in a now comparatively stable employment landscape, we no longer live with the fear of imminent joblessness. Regardless of this, perhaps the crescendo of the play fails to reach its height because of the characters - staff members who provide caricatured examples of office employees: The bimbo, the pretty boy, the nerd, the stroppy bitch. It doesn't matter who will be fired. As far as I'm concerned, they can all go.

The strength of the piece - and for me, the validation for it’s being - is the boss of the company, Donna, played exquisitely by Debra Baker. The collapse of Saxon Court represents a collapse of this alpha-female herself, who endears us through moments of vulnerability within her forceful style of management: "Make me some farckin' money!" Her bully tactics are fun to watch: blatant, manipulative and desperate. Donna offers a rough and ready counterpart to Glenn Close in The Devil Wears Prada, proudly relaying stories of her ambitious journey to ‘the top’, which earn the respect [read: fear] of her employees. What makes her character quite pathetic - and consequently human - is that whilst at ‘the top’ of the hierarchy within her own self-built company, we are reminded that the world is the ultimate ‘Court’ where luck plays the judge. Donna’s is about to run out.

Another convincing performance is courtesy of Adam Brown, who plays ‘ugly’ Mervyn, the office oddball nerd. Brown’s character depicts the humiliations people will suffer for the sake of a job, but it is uncomfortable when his task to clean a flooded toilet is used for comic effect. Writer Daniel Anderson provides a lesson that penalties will incur for those privileged enough to keep their jobs, but I did not warm to his suggestion that cleaning work is a degrading means of employment. In a portrayal of her character’s ignorance, WAG wannabe Tash [Alice Franklin] says of the recently fired cleaner, ‘She was weird that cleaner, really foreign’. This points to an interesting comment about foreign worker discrimination, but is disappointingly vague.

On leaving the theatre, I passed under a bridge with graffiti that on one side read: ‘Migrant Workers… know your rights… www.migranthelp.tumblr.com - Nobody is ‘illegal’.’ On the other: ‘Southwark Council + lend lease = corrupt criminals. Google Heygate Estate Scandal.’ The recession may be over, but London’s diverse social fabric will forever lend itself to disparity between the classes and political turbulence. I wish Anderson had delved into London as it is today, and allowed more current issues to steer the journey of his debut play.

‘Made By Brick’s’ manifesto promises to ‘present contemporary voices that are rarely seen on stage, connecting audiences with compelling stories that might otherwise be overlooked’, but I can’t help but feel that the play has missed the mark in terms of really relevant conversation. The traverse stage felt appropriately claustrophobic for the office atmosphere; but whilst Anderson puts the magnifying glass on the intricate manoeuvres of office politics, he fails to uncover a metaphor for the bigger picture.

★ ★ ★

‘Saxon Court’ by Made By Brick

Written by Daniel Andersen

Directed by Melanie Spencer

Photo by Richard Lakos

19th Nov – 13th Dec at Southwark Playhouse

Mon – Fri 8pm | Sat 3.30pm & 8pm

£18/ £16 concessions / £10 previews

Get your tickets here: http://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/the-little/saxon-court/?popup=1

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