Appraisal – Venue 20: Assembly Rooms – Drawing Room – 1.10pm
TIM Mariott has pulled off another wonderful script. If you have ever had an employment appraisal then welcome back to hell; if you are fortunate enough never to be subjected to this form of annual assessment then, well, this is what hell looks like.
Jo (Nicholas Collett) is the aged boss who has been squatting in his position for far too long and has been subsumed in the corporate nonsensical nomenclature so common to modern workplaces. Nicky (Angela Bull) is the more than capable direct report to Jo. The script follows the trials of Nicky as she is the recipient of Jo’s annual assessment of her performance. Nicky tries to hide her obvious intellectual superiority and capability against a fusillade of corporate clichés from Jo, such as her ability to achieve “VAT” – “value-added targets” – or the equally-meritless “CBD” – “continual business development”. The script offers up many twists and turns, with a fabulous conclusion.
It’s very well written and both Collett and Bull add their considerable acting skill to bring the script alive. It is both a wry look at the absurdity of the appraisal process when mismanaged, miscommunicated and has an underlying connivance. At the same time, it is very funny, with some wonderful linguistic thrusting and parrying from both actors.
I really enjoyed this performance and left thinking if an annual appraisal is a condition of modern employment then be an entrepreneur, a fringe reviewer or be unemployed!
FOUR STARS
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Plus, read more reviews on Scottish Field’s Fringe pages.
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