★★★☆☆
Three Stars
Who is the boss of it all? The one who appears to be so? The one who plays the part of the boss? The one who controls the boss? Or, the one who actually gets what’s going on and is in control of the situation? This production, adapted from a comedy by Danish screenwriter Lars von Trier, seems to be interested in asking precisely on this question. It partly succeeds, although not with the best outcome.
The play revolves around the boss of an IT company (Jack Chisnall), who hires an actor (Cameron Cook) to play the part of the boss, so that he can still enjoy popularity among his staff but at the same time carry out his interests, which are in fact to sell the company. Of course, this trick works up to the point where it becomes clear that blaming someone else is not always possible, and one has to be responsible for one’s own actions. The theme of ‘boss-ness’ is nicely developed in all its possible combinations, and pretty much everyone sooner or later in the play gets to be the boss at some point.
Another interesting motif is that of pretending and dissimulating. We see this in the actor playing the part of the boss, but finding himself without a script and thereby forced to improvise. Eventually, we witness a gradual shift from the puppet controlled by the boss (the real one), to the real boss being turned into a puppet. All this makes the staff (and the audience) question who the boss of it all actually is.
All characters, especially ‘the colourful bunch’ of the staff members, are quite amusing and give a humorous insight into stereotypes: the algid emotionless beauty, the moody and delirious rustic, the chronically depressed widow – there’s room for everyone. However, the deliberate anxiety and social awkwardness, supposed to be performed to excess for comic purposes, is sometimes taken too far, departing from the ‘excessive = funny’ model, and leading to the ‘excessive = fake, rigid, awkward’ one. Kristoffer/Svend (Cameron Cook) himself, although he seems really into the part and over-the-top, sometimes comes across as too stiff, repetitive, and contrived, which effects the large potential for humour the play has.
Nevertheless, there is still laughter among the audience – which creates the most bizarre contrast with the utter depression being staged at all levels – and in some cases rightly so. There are moments of very good humour, such as the scene in slow motion and the exchange between the actor and his own part. However, other bits are not up to such standards. For example, less hilarious is the use of the puppet. It is a brilliant addition in concept, which does not feature in the original script, and it works really well with what the play is all about. But, yet, I feel that it could have been used better. Equally dubious is the decision of having a random Danish voice off stage between the change scenes; it is funny the first time, but a bit pointless after a while.
So an entertaining play overall with an engaging plot, some hilarious types, and a few funny tricks. Although, I sense there could definitely have been even more fireworks.
The Boss of It All runs at The BT Studio until Saturday.
