The usually witty and engaging company Clubbed Thumb, which describes itself as a producer of "funny, strange, and provocative" new American plays, presents an imaginative work by playwright Adam Bock that examines the lives of three typically mundane Americans.
The dominant motif in these people adrift is work life. Annalise, the confident geographer, is completely lost in the world of maps, in addition to showing other people what is wrong with their lives. Margaret, the typographer, is barely able to communicate: shy and withdrawn, she holds the adamant view that the typographer's life is under-appreciated. Dave, the stenographer, takes such an extraordinary interest in his tedious job he seems not to have a self, especially in the way he relates with his boyfriend.
Bock brings these characters to us largely by direct address, as the three sit in chairs and alternate in speechifying about their craft until a sudden tone stops them. After a long while, perhaps too long a while, there is some dialogue among the three, especially between Annalise and Dave, which then hits a peak of emotion. Most of the speeches contain a job involvement so pathetic and unenlightened that a highly comedic and absurd tinge is evident.
Drew Barr's actors know exactly how to exploit this sort of material. As Annalise, Kate Hampton is hilariously spot on as a mumbling, bloodless workaholic with but a shadow of a life. As Margaret, aware of everyone's problems but her own, Meg MacCary displays perfect timing and an appropriately edgy sensibility. As the intense Dave, Dan Snook is so totally natural he will evoke comparisons to sad people you might know, driving without headlights, about to somehow crash into themselves.
David Morris' exceptionally stylish set of clean lines and sharp images lets the audience know what to expect from the start and provides an excellent frame for this original play.