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A CurtainUp Review
Ideation
By Elyse Sommer
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How was Crete?— Hannah Full of cretins.—Brock, one of the corporate consultants joking about how he and his cohorts successfully squeezed more profits out of the Greek government. |
L-R: Michael Rae Wisely, Carrie Paff, Mark Anderson Phillipa
(Photo Credit: Carol Rosegg)
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The joke quoted above about the mission just accomplished sets the tone for the satire Loeb has "ideated" about the a corporate culture's blurring of right and wrong, and atmosphere of mistrust. Having successfully applied their less than admirable talents to the Greek economy, these unlikable strivers are ready to throw themselves into a new project.
The initially self-confident and fairly congenial team consists of the arrogantly hot-headed but fast-thinking Brock (Mark Anderson Phillips) and the older and somewhat less temperamental Ted (Michael Ray Wisely). To trigger the first signs of the project's social awareness as well as a romantic subtext, there's the team's only minority, project engineer Sandeep (Jason Kapoor). Also present is the CEO's representative and the team's project manager, Hannah (Carrie Paff); and at the beginning and end, Scooter(Ben Euphrat), the obnoxiously disrespectful assistant Hannah was forced to hire courtesy of nepotism.
Since the project that serves as the plot for Ideation is top-secret the meeting is very non-tech. Instead of electronic gadgetry to record the group's "ideating," (Loeb's coinage for brainstorming) we get a big whiteeboard on which the team members scribbles out their ideas with lists and algebraic equations for creating the most efficient system for disposing of millions of bodies.
If ideas about liquidation chambers and references to the job at hand being to create but not implement the system evokes chilling memories of Nazi extermination centers, that's as intended. But as the hour for presenting a plan to their CEO via a conference call progresses, and suspicions that this assignment is a trial run for something larger, scarier and more ethics challenging, the brainstorming turns to stormy dissension that throws Bill English's sleek conference room into complete disarray.
The actors, all of whom are reprising the roles played in San Francisco, are competent but hardly memorable. So is Josh Costello's direction. The way he constantly has the actors moving around that conference table and has Hannah removing the jacket from the flattering green outfit by costumer Abra Berman, tries too hard to be visually symbolic.
While Loeb's intentions to create an edgy satire that would put some thought provoking ideas on the table is admirable, it falls short of its ambition. The thinly disguised, jumbled ideas don't really do much to fully engage us. In a world of devastating viruses, natural disasters and terrorism, it's hard to find any of this fresh or funny.
And with a Presidential campaign that features insults about the size of someone's genitals and has one contender trump his political incorrectness by asking his audience to raise their right hand in his support, I found myself wishing that the real campaign we'll be watching for months to come were a fiction like Ideation. That would mean true to George S. Kaufman's definition of satire that it would close Saturday night instead of going on and on. To its credit Ideation is here for a much more limited run and lasts only about 90 minutes.
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Ideation by Aaron
Loeb Directed by Josh Costello. Cast: Ben Euphrat (Scooter), Jason Kapoor(Sandeep), Carrie Paff(Hannah), Mark Anderson Phillips(Brock), Michael Ray Wisely(Ted) Scenic design by Bill English Lighting design by Gertjan Houben Costume design by Abra Berman Sound design by Theodore J.H. Hulsker Stage Manager: Courteney Lynn Leggett Running Time: 90 minutes Produced by San Francisco Playhouse at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues) From 3/05/16; 9pening 3/15/16; closing 4/17/16 Tuesday – Thursday at 7 PM;; Friday at 8 PM;; Saturday at 2 PM & 8 PM;; and Sunday at 3 PM Reviewed by Elyse Sommer at 3/09 press preview |
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