By JayC Stoddard
Currently located at the Rose Wagner, Wasatch Theatre Company has an established history of bringing lesser known titles to Salt Lake City audiences. What We’re Up Against continues that trend. Set in 1992, we quickly realize how little has changed for women in the workplace over the decades. The script effectively demonstrates the challenges faced by capable women, working in a primarily male dominated industry, specifically in this case, architecture.
Eliza (Mary Neville), is a new hire for a small architecture firm. Hired by the corporate head David, for her talent, (or because she’s sleeping with him, everyone knows she’s sleeping with him), she is pushed into the furthest corner office, (broom closet), with nothing to do. Meanwhile she must watch as Weber (Leviticus Brown), hired at the same time, advances through the ranks. He is full of lofty platitudes about art, and history, and what buildings reflect about our humanity, but when it comes to any practical ability, brings nothing to the table. Sometimes charming, sometimes sycophantic, and always manipulative, Weber navigates his world with ease, while Eliza can only become increasingly frustrated, being forced to watch.
The show opens with Stu (Mike Brown) and Ben (Daniel McLeod) discussing two very separate things within the same conversation. Stu is having a problem with Eliza, who seems to not know how to work within the established system, and Ben just wants to know what to do about the ducts. The firm has landed a large contract with a local mall, and it seems the air ducts in the building are presenting a structural and design problem that no one can seem to figure out.
From this opening point forward, the story unfolds in relatively predictable and straightforward fashion. We are told up front where the solution to the duct problem lies. This particular narrative could just as easily take place on a construction site, at a hospital, or at a school. Anywhere really that women must continually prove themselves to the men in position around her. The story isn’t the story. The story is really the underlying issues throughout. One of the most interesting subplots in the show is carried by Janice (Stacey Jenson), a woman who has been with the firm for much longer, and has seemingly found success in this world. That is, until we realize that success for her means getting the least interesting projects, and being thankful for it. It seems her job is just as much making the men around her not feel threatened by her presence as it is to actually design buildings. Jenson skillfully walks this tightrope, rarely letting down the mask of perpetual happiness she must wear to protect her reputation as a team player.
The performances in general were easy to watch, but it was really Jensen and McLeod who stand out. Their commitment to each moment always felt natural, and authentic. Each invested entirely in the honesty of right now, allowing what had happened to inform the present without telegraphing the future. I found myself at times wishing for more interaction between their characters.
I attended What We’re Up Against with a friend, and it was after the show that really had the most impact. We stood in the parking lot for nearly an hour, discussing the themes of the show, and its real world application, both to me as a male, and her as a female. Our differing perspectives on similar events, and how we’ve each contributed, or been affected by them was eye opening, and heartbreaking. It is startling and disheartening to realize that our world is a very different place for each of us, based on nothing more than something so simple as an x or y chromosome.
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Director Natalia Noble created a very specific world within the walls of this company. Aided with a set from designer Kit Anderton, each office, and each space was clearly identifiable, allowing us small glimpses into the personalities of the characters who occupy them.
Director Natalia Noble, Costumer Nyssa Sara Lee, Set by Kit Anderton have created a successful and important production of What We’re Up Against. The play itself had a lot of strengths, some weaknesses, and was by no means a perfect script or production, but it sparked a conversation that left me with more awareness than I had before going in, and to me, that is exactly what great theatre should do.
Wasatch Theatre Company presents What We’re Up Against by Theresa Rebeck
Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 Broadway, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101
April 26 – May 12, Friday-Saturday 8:00 PM, Sunday Matinees 2:00 PM
Tickets: $20
Wasatch Theatre Company Facebook Page
What We’re Up Against Facebook Page
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