The Receptionist

Tweet

The Second Stage revival of Adam Bock’s The Receptionist first seen at Manhattan Theatre Club in 2007 appears to be more timely than ever. That may explain why is seems to shock less than it should as we have been come inured to reports of atrocities all over the world. Sarah Benson’s new production is so low-key that is possible to miss the point. But that may be the point: the banality of evil is not possible if we don’t look away when unpleasant things arise.

The play appears to be about the complicity of evil. Beverly the receptionist (played with remarkable equanimity by Katie Finneran) reigns over the ordinary quiet of the Northeast Office, giving us no clue as to what the bosses or the employees are up to. For the most of the play, we listen in on banal conversations about coworker Lorraine’s date the night before, overhear calls about Beverly’s daughter, discussion about trips out of the office for bagels or a newspaper, while the women await the arrival of the boss. For most of this 80-minute play, nothing much happens, nor do we even know what the office does. Nothing could seem more ordinary.

Then the boss Mr. Raymond drops clues about his upsetting day and it appears that their work is to interrogate “clients” but not in the usual way. He is disturbed by how far he had to go in interrogating yesterday’s “client.” When Mr. Dart appears and requests Mr. Raymond’s presence at the Central Office to answer questions, the temperature goes up a bit but not for long as things go back to normal after they leave. When Mr. Raymond fails to return, Beverly and Lorraine discuss the consequences of this for the office. Beverly reminds Lorraine, “‘We need to find out what people are going to do before they do it. … Terrible things happen when we’re too trusting.”

We never learn much more than this. Is this the F.B.I., the C.I.A., Homeland Security, government wiretapping? Is Bock asking what is the price we pay for our complicity in evil when we knowingly fail to do anything about it? Or is he reminding us that we live in a society where evil is now taken for granted from our belief in the terrorists abroad plotting to harm us to our own government which appears to have made torture an approved policy. Although Beverly is the office busybody keeping track of what everyone is doing and where everyone goes, does she really know what is going on behind closed doors? Or is she closing her eyes to the purpose and work of the employees? This is left up to our imaginations.

Director Benson has chosen not to turn up the heat too high, and the result is that the play is mostly subtext. Is this part of the message about the seeming banality of evil or is this a calculated risk that fails to work? The bland set in subtle earth tones by the collective dots ought to make it all the more frightening: in this ordinary office setting terrible things are being planned and executed. (The pitch-perfect costumes by Enver Chakartash are equally bland suggesting that this is just another day at the office – but is it? By the end of the play, the office has been decimated but in small increments.) The play’s premise suggests that the author has something important on his mind, but the obscure way he has executed it leaves a good deal up to the audience. The mundane talk is believable but hardly interesting: good people engaged in bad practices. It goes on much too long, suggesting how much we take it for granted.

The redoubtable Ms. Finneran is always interesting to watch as she establishes her daily routine from forwarding callers to voice mail to making coffee to keeping track of supplies to watering plants and ordering cakes for birthdays. Her Beverly is as real as all those friendly receptionists you have dealt with all these years who appear to do very little but somehow get their work done, and keep the office running. As Lorraine, assistant to the boss, who is entirely caught up with her unsatisfactory love life, Mallori Johnson is amusing, giving us the feeling she doesn’t do much work but knows more than she is admitting. Will Pullen offers a suave blandness as the messenger from the Central Office, and then shows his fangs when he begins demanding that people accompany him to the Central Office.  Nael Nacer is off stage most of the time as the Northeast Office’s boss but covers a large range of emotions when we finally meet him.

Both playwright and director have made a choice to keep the temperature low even when nefarious and outrageous events are being discussed. At this time in history in order to shock, one must be extremely explicit. Benson’s new staging of The Receptionist is a beautifully modulated production which just might need to turn up the heat in order to get its important message across.

The Receptionist (through May 24, 2026)

The Second Stage

Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 W. 42^nd Street, in Manhattan,

For tickets, visit http://www.2ST.com

Running time: 85 minutes without an intermission