Play is not hit TV show but perfectly captures slice of office life

Then Ricky Gervais came alone and rewrote the rules with his brilliant TV comedy, The Office.

The latest offering from The Old Town Theatre Company is promoted as a cross between the hit BBC show and a stag night in Leeds.

But anyone expecting a David Brent fest will be sorely disappointed.

The Office Party is The Office, stripped of its subtlety, quirkiness, naturalism and David Brent.

All the action takes place in a single office of Marketing firm, Chapman and Howard, as its luckless and emotionally screwed up employees prepare for their Christmas party, where they proceed to get drunk and have inappropriate relations with each other.

The soulless and stuffy surrounds of office life are captured perfectly, right down to the laminated motivational posters and lifeless potted plants.

The acting is pretty good, particularly the scenes where all the characters are drunk.

What works less well is the sporadic switch from the Jokey Bits, the pithy one liners and the so-clever quips to the earnest Character Development scenes, in which, for example, one of the characters reveals she cannot have children.

It’s as if a character from the Brittas Empire were to suddenly start spouting Pinter.

There are some laughs to be had, but mainly it’s of the “Phwooar, you’re in there, mate!” variety.

The best lines are given to the vulgar Bob (played by David Howell), the office clown who’s cocky joviality is stripped away by booze to real a deeply unhappy individual.

Not that any of the characters are particularly happy – they’re just good at disguising if for the rest of the year.

It is only in the drunken office party that everyone loses their inhibitions and gains the confidence to say what they feel. Perhaps it’s for the best they only happen once a year.

The Office Party runs until tonight.

Andy Tate
Swindon Evening Advertiser