Motivationally Speaking?: suits bump knuckles
Initially I was torn. Funny script. Weak performances. That was all I had to say. Then I asked some questions.
Turns out the co-writers (who are also two of the leads) aren’t actors and a couple of the supporting roles were last minute understudies. Add to that, Saturday’s show was their first ever for an audience and I’ll cut them a yard or two of slack. Motivationally Speaking intends to tell the story of a man who reaches his breaking point and must make a choice. Can such a subject be explored through comedy? Loveless Productions seems to think so.
As the play begins we are introduced to Allan, his job (cold caller for Grab the Future, a motivational improvement company), his boss (the founder and CEO) and his co-worker (the alpha wanna-be, crotch stuffing ‘Hammer’). Then along comes a various assortment of receptionists, answering machines and company executives he must plead with to try to gain back some of the former glory of “last year’s target goals”…. back when he had it. All this leads to the ultimate showdown in front of the Allforms Styrofoam Company sales department when Allan lands a meeting. Of course his boss tries to do “what is best for the company.”
The script contains some quick and witty dialogue mixed with the staid and expected. I could tell right away the boys liked Glengarry Glenross and In the Company of Men, but they still found new ways to make me laugh. Some clever staging moves and good timing help this piece overcome the inexperience on stage. A couple of scenes seemed a little too full of the same joke repeated, but when we see the boss’s true colours we might believe some people are just that two-dimensional. Does this take us deep into the psyche of a man pushed to the ‘breaking point’? No. But it certainly will make you glad your job isn’t so bad. Or if it is…you may finally do something about it.
Once these folks shake off the jitters and settle into the run, expect a show full of laughs that will make you smile every time you see a couple of suits ‘bump knuckles’.
Get yourself motivated to join in the forum and also find out more about this show here.