Hip Shot: ‘GS-14’
GS-14
The Bodega at The Trading Post
Remaining Performances
Wednesday, July 15th 5:30 pm
Saturday, July 18th 6 pm
Thursday, July 23rd 8 pm
Sunday, July 26th 11:45 am
They say: GS-14 is a comedy about a fed-up government manager who decides to ignore all rules so as to get the job done. He tries to fire the lazy. He tells people unwelcome truths. He’s soon in fights with almost everyone!
Llewellyn says: Isn’t government one big, convoluted bureaucracy? I mean really, who knows how anybody gets anything done in a world of inane requirements, embattled egos, and endless paperwork. Maybe if someone were only able to circumvent all the needless requirements, then something could actually get done around here! That’s the story of GS-14, where a frustrated, conniving manager, aptly played by Seth Vaughn, looks to circumvent the PC police to complete this fictional software that would “save untold lives”. It’s an office drama, told with lots of wit, that digs into the details of political maneuvering and innuendo that surround this town’s untold soap operas. Complex and creative maybe, but in the end, it’s unsatisfactory. Constantly pacing around an office desk, most of the actors never seem to settle into their roles unless they’re imitating other characters within the story. They are all just ordinary office workers going about their day. And without characters to care about, the obscure military references fall flat.
This couldn’t be more apparent as when the new hire Theo, a transvestite chess player played by Ricardo Frederick Evans, comes aboard and steals the show. His timing and personality easily trumps whatever statement was being made about political correctness. When Theo is forced to wear proper clothes at work, and Megan, played by Ariana Almajan, is repeatedly told her fiancée is a terrible person for reasons unknown to the audience, I wished the cast had mutinied right then and there against the rampant sexism in the script. There’s little redemption that all of these horrible things were in any way justified so we could see some fantasy software being made. Theo’s identity politics are there to be belittled. I had a hard time believing that any software was worth putting people down like that, and in the end I yearned for more bureaucracy.
See it if: You like software more than people.
Skip it if: You like people more than software.
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12:34 pm
The program said 90 mins — yet it ran almost 2 very long hours. The repetitive script contradicted itself multiple times, and the superfluous scenes dragged the evening into an abysmal affair. Some of the acting was quite good, while some characters kept missing or flubbing lines. My co-attendees and I did not care for almost any of the characters, as they were all very 2-dimensional. If this is what working for government is like, I will stay in the arts, thank you.
12:47 pm
Just a note from the playwright:
First of all, thanks for coming to “GS-14.” I’m sorry you didn’t care for the show, but no show can please everyone. Fortunately, our “exit polling” indicated most people really liked the show and our ticket sales have been great.
You certainly have the right to your opinion and I respect that. The only quibble I wanted to make was your saying the script had “rampant sexism.” The show has two female characters. Megan is a computer systems genius and Bonnie is head of a union. Both are smart people who fight for what they want. I don’t understand how that is sexist.
Both are sympathetic characters. Neither is perfect, but then, neither are any of the male characters. The play tries to show people as they really are, for better or worse. Megan does make a poor choice in her fiance, but lots of people of both genders make that mistake.
Unfortunately, many in theater are too quick to call things “sexist” or “racist” A number of actresses and African American actors have complained that it’s hard to find interesting roles where they can have a dark side. Fear of being labelled “sexist” or “racist” causes writers to write bland female and African American
characters.
Anyway, thanks again for coming. I just wanted to make that one point.
8:34 pm
Just a note from the reviewer:
The play was sharply written in a lot of ways, as I noted in the review, and I will testify that the audience that night did enjoy a number of the lines. I know it’s a bit harsh to call a show as being sexist, and such accusations shouldn’t be thrown around lightly, but I do stand behind that sentiment.
Although the female characters are built up as strong personalities, they’re just there to be put down. Megan is forced to dress like a slut and then told her husband is terrible. Sexual harassment in a play can have it’s place for sure. Maybe if you’re trying to out-Labute Neil Labute, but I got the feeling that, in the end, it was just somebody’s bland wet dream.
Maybe that was just the the show that night, so I’d love to hear an alternate interpretation of the ending.
6:53 am
Llewelyn:
I appreciate your reply. In a subject area where name-calling is the norm for many people, you and I are writing seriously about an important topic in theater.
Nevertheless, I still can’t agree to the charge of sexism in the play “GS-14.” Hank does not force Megan to dress like a slut. In fact, he suggests in one scene that she dress more conservatively.
Megan is 23 years old and very good with software. Hank praises her repeatedly for her skills. Hank just thinks that in order for her career to advance, she needs to dress professionally and learn the skills of small talk and selling an idea. Whether we like it or not, these skills are key to getting ahead in the professional world.
The running joke is that Hank has no tact whatsoever. When he could make a subtle suggestion, he just comes right out and says it. He ignores all rules. Megan acknowledges at times that Hank has a point, but resents Hank’s tactless manner.
Most of us at some point in our lives have to deal with good advice that is given to us in a harsh manner. Do we put up with that tough teacher or coach who pushed us beyond our comfort zone? When does tough advice turn into bullying?
There is also the matter of Hank questioning Megan’s choice of a spouse. The fact is that Derek would make a terrible husband for Megan. That is established very early in the play. It’s also true that Hank has no business commenting on that matter.
Hank is estranged from his own children and the only satisfaction he gets in life is at work. My interpretation is that Hank is treating Megan as if she were his daughter. He is trying to help her in a way that he could not help his own children. Hank also recently had a failed marriage, so Hank doesn’t want Megan to repeat the mistake. Studies have shown people often take on familial roles in office relationships.
Megan has a choice to make. Does she put up with Hank’s comments about her choice of clothes and spouse, or does she file a complaint? She is a smart person with a tough choice. After all, Hank is giving her interesting work and advancing her career. Megan is young and dealing with the professional world for the first time. She may not always make the best choices, but many of us don’t make great choices at age 23. To make that point is hardly sexist.
By the way, the play sold out every show except the first night. (The first night was at 9:30 p.m on a Sunday.) Our exit polls have been great. Thanks again for your comments.
9:31 am
I didn’t get that impression from the show, since Megan being forced to dress provocatively was a large segment of the plot, but I appreciate the followup.
9:41 am
ugh. A voyeuristic look at a two hour long gripe session. Punishing is the only way to describe this.
4:29 pm
Llewellyn,
what I don’t understand, and which also seems to be a part of your argument on the sexism of the play is that there is no justification for the characters to be telling Megan her husband is terrible. I have to seriously disagree, the first scene we see Derek in he is yelling at who he thinks is a janitor with little provocation, and then is seen trying to manipulate Megan into filling a grievance, not for her best interests, but for his own career advancement. Finally, we see his absolute disregard for Megan as a human being with wants and needs different from his own, and rather sees her as only a pawn to advance his own career and standing.
The character of Hank may be a bit sexist, the character of Derek is certainly a sexist, but THE PLAY is not. You completely fail to distinguish the characters in the play from the play itself. Just because characters in a play are a certain way does not mean the play endorses that. Titus Andronicus sure kills a whole mess of people with no remorse in Titus Andronicus, it doesn’t mean the play is pro-murder, just as sexist characters do not necessarily mean that the play is sexist, in fact the sexism of both Hank and Derek is looked down upon and derided by the other characters in the play.
2:27 pm
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