An intense thriller challenging the villains of the business world, the bullies who take pleasure in their success over others, no matter what it takes.
This is a show that puts the bully on trial, exploring what would happen if one were to punish the corrupt businessman.
The play follows Ian’s job application from lying on his CV, to the painful telephone interview before eventually making it to the final interview in person. However, this is not just a relatable account depicting one man trying to attain his dream job. There is a sinister feeling from the first scene where he shoves his girlfriend off the desk chair rather violently and it is this feeling that grows until the show takes a series of dramatic twists including violence and melodrama.
The structure of the performance is intelligent with the emails sent to and from Ian being read on the voice over so we are included in all of the details of the story. Furthermore, the characters are strong with each actor embodying their role with clear dedication. The hostile relationship between the two leads is fuelled with energy as the two actors bounce off each other throughout which certainly maintains a fast pace during the dramatic sections.
That being said, the recitation of the lines is a little flat at times and the stage fighting fumbled during key dramatic moments which removed a lot of the tension that had been building throughout. Added to this, the script feels laboured with the twists following each other too quickly towards the end, escalating to a rather extreme level that felt overwhelming. During the more vulnerable points, the delivery of some of the more cliched lines grates on the ear and appears superficial, undercutting the serious nature of the subject matter.
This is a show that puts the bully on trial, exploring what would happen if one were to punish the corrupt businessman. Yet the pitfalls in the script and the issues in execution remove some of the drama from the performance.
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