SLAC will hold your attention with peek into 'clerical arts'

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Feb 10, 2004 by Ivan M. Lincoln Deseret Morning News

HOLD PLEASE, Salt Lake Acting Company, through Feb. 29 (355- 2787). Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes (one intermission).

Once you get past thinking of Anne Stewart Mark as "a fading beauty" (that's how her character was described for the auditions), then Annie Weisman's four-person comedy about life in "the clerical arts" is a pretty entertaining ride.

"Hold Please" is not hilarious, and it doesn't raise any particularly new issues, but it is enjoyable.

This is an ensemble piece, with all four women carrying the same weight -- two as office receptionists from an older generation (Mark as Grace, Kathryn Atwood as Agatha), and two others who act as if they belong in an MTV video (Daisy Blake as Erica, Rebecca Larsen as Jessica).

Keven Myhre's simple set -- three tiers with four desks on the top two levels and a casual break room at the front of the stage -- makes for a smooth flow as the action quickly moves along.

The differences between the two generations are night and day. Agatha and Grace are sweet and oh so polite as they field phone calls for their bosses (you never see the bosses, but they are definitely part of the goings-on). Meanwhile, Erica (the epitome of a Valley Girl) and Jessica (who's anxious to get ahead, even it it means changing careers) are blunt to the point of rudeness when they answer the ringing phones.

But it's not all business. There's an array of office politics, discussions of sexual harassment and several slightly dark twists and turns, as the women talk about their lives in and out of the office.

One central plot revolves around one executive's not-so-secret sexual advances. When he's ultimately canned, the four women wonder if -- just maybe -- he was more of a victim. The possibility looms that another executive might have been the one who should have been axed.

The playwright has a keen sense for dialogue. There are discussions between the four women -- sometimes together, other times when they're paired off -- that uncover layers of tension in the workplace. There are some surprising secrets that are divulged along the way, and the finale comes up with a zinger or two as well.

Across the board, Mark, Atwood, Blake and Larsen deliver superb performances.

Adrianne Moore, guest-directing her first SLAC production, has done a fine job of focusing on Weisman's look at life in the business world, where the overstuffed sofa in Xavier's old office may be comfortable, but time spent in the secretarial trenches rarely is.

Sensitivity rating: An abundance of R-rated language, including some graphic sexual talk. Also some onstage smoking.

E-MAIL: ivan@desnews.com