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The Play
The premiere of Death by PowerPoint starred Alastair Kerr (Radio 4's Count Arthur Strong), Mark Katz (The Treason Show), and Tamsin Shasha (Actors of Dionysus)
A Rational Madness Production for The Critical Incident
A darkly humorous tale of wretched contentment.
This is a story of death - the death of a company and the death of a man who died trying to save it. It is also a tale of life, of the half-life of wretched contentment, of real life and of life in Second Life. It tells the story of what happens when we work to live and end up living to die. Building on the success of "Empowering the Cheese" Rational Madness return with a work that takes a fundamental and painfully funny look at the world of work and what happens when our play is a collusion of mediocrity.
"What exactly is it you really have got against people coming to work and earning a living?"
"It's no bad thing earning a living; but it is a shameful thing earning a living death."
The Concept
There is no overt message in this play which plays equally to public and organisational audience. Drawn from the world of business, office life, the world of work, the play explores the essence of working life and the themes of life at work. But many issues and themes lie beneath the surface allowing the mirror of the drama to play into the minds and hearts of the audience. We present possible futures - good and bad, possible outcomes, possible lives, possible choices.
A blend of live theatre and devised film, the play also stars David Knowles on film, playing Phil, the manager and major shareholder of Blanchard’s - a glue factory in the toy and model industry that didn’t see the computer generation coming. What happens when work and personal life become one and the same in a time of financial and personal crisis? Death by PowerPoint explores the territory of the rational madness of overwork.
Staging
The play uses film as its backdrop and is staged simply. A small stage and a few props are all that are required to bring the world of Blanchard’s to life, and to throw light on the attempts of its staff to save a dying company, but really to save their own sense of purpose at the same time.
The use of bare acting and film creates a mirror for the audience to reflect on their own philosophies of living and working, without any preachiness involved. So far, the play has been staged of a piece with no follow-up forum theatre or workshopping.
The play itself is the intervention, based on Paul Levy’s work on organisational theatre and expounded in the recently published Thin Book on Organisational Theatre. (A download of this book is available in the resources section of this site).
The staging is drawn from Rational Madness Theatre’s award-winning work in 2005. (Winner of the Arts & Business Insight Award for Impactful Theatre). Comedic and serious themes blend with film image and intense drama in heartful piece of drama. Our plan is to refilm in new performance locations and work with new actors, adapting aspects of our work to local contexts.
Reviews and Response
On its public premiere at the Sussex Arts Club in 2006, Death by PowerPoint was immediately commissioned to play at the Waterfront, Belfast to two full-houses at a conference of managers. It was favourably reviewed by Chris Taylor of New Writing South whose review can be found here.
“The cast of Mark Katz, Alastair Kerr, Tamsin Shasha and Melanie Page flow chart the human condition and the dangers of taking work too seriously with pace, panache and a deft touch of humour. “ Chris Taylor
The creative journey continues!
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