Conference Room A: Ménage a Jerk

I don't watch many sitcoms. The simple reason is that I don't enjoy annoying people doing stupid things to one another. Clearly, many people do enjoy it, so there is probably an audience out there for "Conference Room A", a dark comedy now playing at The Red Room.

A young manager, Brent (John Peery), and his two employees are stuck all night in the office, waiting for an important data transfer to finish (actually, one wonders why any, let alone all three of them, had to stay during what appears to be an automated process, but they have to get trapped together somehow, or else we wouldn't have a play). Brent is an astonishingly naïve Yes Man, hoping to find his soul mate. He is torn between his Catholic roots and his desire to be to be a cool guy. He is also, for some reason, friends with boozy, abusive employee Robbie (Josh Tyson), a mouthy bastard of unbelievable proportions. Brent has a tentative crush on intern Jill (Candice Holdorf), a duplicitous tart who plays along with a lie about her virginity to ensare Brent and secure her future. The truth is that she often gets "collated" on the office mattress (yes, there is an office mattress) by, you guessed it, Robbie. The mind games that ensue make you wonder if playwright Ben Cikanek based this closely on people he knows. If so, I feel awfully sorry for him, and hope he meets some decent people soon.

Ms. Holdorf as Jill is attractive, and tries to make her character sympathetic, but seems somehow miscast. She has been burdened with a role that starts out being phony, blossoms into being creepy, and then manages to get even creepier when she tries to be sincere. Mr Peery is also unable to do much with his manic wimp, a character so stupid he doesn't figure out the relationship between Robbie and Jill, even when Robbie repeatedly manhandles her in plain view. Peery is also given a rather embarrassing "Drunken Epiphany" scene.

Josh Tyson has the hardest role, but steals what there is of the show with it. You can tell Robbie is the Official Office Jerk right away, because every other word he says is "f***". He is one of the most irritating major characters I've seen in a play, though he is apparently supposed to be the most sympathetic of the three; his bad behavior may just be a cover, of course, for a scared guy with a big secret. Tyson has a charisma and a sense of timing that nearly pulls it off; I would love to see him play a similar character with writing that was less forced.

There is very funny dialogue in "Conference Room A", and some winning turns of phrase. There are bizarre moments of "wackiness" inserted (including a strange, over long bit where Robbie and Brent impersonate masturbating Chinese men). There are implausible plot twists and affected self-realizations, and strange lapses of reality. Director Mike Klar herds his threesome decently. "Conference Room A" is full of witty words, but the play fails when trying to tackle Important Truths about life and love.

Photos: Top: John Peery, Candice Holdorf, Josh Tyson

Middle: Josh Tyson Bottom: Candice Holdorf

Photography by Ryan Robinson, www.ryanrobinson.com

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