Kristina DeGiovanni commands the stage in her new play, The Temp, which follows a pretentious actor who is employed by an egomaniacal CEO. Her role? An over-enthusiastic personnel who lives and breathes the job, motivating her co-workers to do the same. But there’s a catch: it’s all a ploy of the boss’ creation to increase productivity in his burnt-out workforce.
DeGiovanni’s characterisations, vocal dexterity and physicality are all executed with expert precision
Narrated by the Temp character herself, the play is cleverly structured as she retells the story of her experiences of the job from an insider’s perspective - a Monday-Friday account. The script is bursting to the seams, brimming with hilarious quips and inspired observations about characters we are all familiar with. Though a little fast in moments, the quick-witted writing keeps the audience on their toes for the entire performance, which is particularly impressive given DeGiovanni is a New Yorker performing to a predominantly British audience.
DeGiovanni maintains an artful balance between introspection, social commentary (without the TED-Talk tenor) and gentle mocking that is both relatable and illuminating. Actors and creatives will be able to identify strongly with DiGiovanni’s meta-theatrical openness on the complex relationship between an actor and their character. The Temp embodies the dichotomy between pretend and real, artistic and entrepreneurial in the dual nature of the character herself: an actor playing the full-time role of 'corporate employee'. This sheds light on life in the arts and its ability to make you feel disconnected from the real world whilst being unavoidably confronted by it on a daily basis.
DeGiovanni’s characterisations, vocal dexterity and physicality are all executed with expert precision as she deftly switches between characters ranging from a New Jersey ‘wise guy’ to a Gucci belt brandishing airhead. The characters remain incredibly distinct, and the ease with which she embodies them brings their inner world to life.
Though I found this performance captivating in its own right, it might benefit from a greater use of sound. The play is lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek and sassy, and this could be better emulated with the addition of music to create a more fertile atmosphere for laughs.
Overall, The Temp is an exciting, original play that transports the audience to a world of actors and businesspeople, both navigating life’s self-indulgent moral dilemmas in their respective journeys. As the show comes to an end, one is left with a lingering thought: are these two worlds really all that different?
