Center
Stage with
THEATRE REVIEW:
“Working” – Old Globe Theatre
AIRDATE:
MARCH 20, 2009
Work.
We’ve all got it, want it, hate it, enjoy it, resent it, miss it or wish it
were over already. And that’s what “Working” is all about.
In 1974, Pulitzer
Prize-winning historian and broadcaster Studs Terkel published a book based on
his interviews with regular folks all over the country, from every walk of
life, getting their takes on their daily tasks. The subtitle of “Working” was:
‘People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They
Feel About What They Do.’ In 1978, the book was made into a musical revue that
ran briefly on Broadway. After 30 years of nationwide productions,
composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz thought it was high-time to revisit and
revise the piece. So he accumulated more interviews, adding some newer jobs,
like hedge-fund manager, and asked Tony Award-winning composer Lin-Manuel
Miranda to create a couple of new songs. The result of this update is now
playing at the Old Globe, and with employment on everyone’s minds these days,
it couldn’t be better timed.
In a series of short
scenes, songs and monologues, inventively staged with six versatile and diverse
performers, we spend a little time with some two dozen everyday American
employees, including a trucker, a
stay-at-home Mom, a fireman, a prostitute, a fundraiser, a newsroom assistant,
a UPS delivery man and a retiree.
All the words and lyrics come almost directly from the interviews. These are
tales of job-loving and -loathing, anger, resentment, contentment, hope and
wistfulness. There’s something every worker, former worker or wannabe worker
can relate to, songs and stories that are touching, funny, sad and sentimental,
told in a wide range of musical styles, from country to folk to blues. We hear from a teacher who can’t keep up with the times, a
waitress who considers her performance on the job a work of art, a pair of
displaced, immigrant caregivers who think they’re doing tasks that families
should do.
In one really creative addition, guest director Gordon Greenberg adds Globe
employees into the mix, so we watch the stage manager, dressers and four
skilled musicians do their work
during the show. The set is wonderfully evocative, a cutaway high-rise of six
‘apartments’ separated by a zigzagging staircase. The lighting and projections
effectively vary the ambience, and the quick-change costumes are imaginative
and character-defining. There are a couple of slow spots in the 90
intermissionless minutes, a few too many potential endings, and a fairly
downbeat conclusion. But it’s an attractive and engaging production. And
there’s an extra note of relevance and poignancy: Studs Terkel, truly a
national treasure, died last October. He’d be happy to know that his work is
still Working.
“Working” runs through April 12 at the
Old Globe in
©2009 PAT LAUNER