Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

Imagine being stuck in an office on a day when all the forces of nature conspire against getting any work done. "We Play For Gods" stirs up the pot and throws in issues of alienation, following your dreams, office ambition, and the meaning of tears for a rousing office comedy.

Over a period of 18 months, Women's Project Theatre gathered a group of 7 writers and 7 directors to craft a piece together. There work started off with a simple question that then grew and morphed into the world on stage. The concept sounded contrived but the results are anything but. "We Play For The Gods" is stellar. The play also marks an auspicious sign of WP Theatre's artistic ascension over the last few years. The theatre company that was left in financial shambles and artistic mire a decade ago has returned to the forefront of off-Broadway theatre. "We Play for Gods" is one of the company's strongest works and fittingly enough draws on the immense pool of creative power for a collaborative play that feels fluid and joyful.

The story involves four intertwining storylines: a new temp, an old veteran office worker dealing with her mom via cell phone, research director trying to secure some funding before it’s too late, and a researcher who has thrown herself into work in order to forget a failed relationship. All of it takes place at the fictionally named May Institute, where the lead research project is based on studying tears of men and women. Simi, is the researcher, who has been unable to cry after a bad relationship in which she spent more time with her work than her boyfriend.

Upon entering the theatre, audiences can see Simi, who is sleeping under the steel lab table. As the play begins, she rises and jumps back into her research. In the process of filing and mixing the samples of tears, Simi performs a series of ritualistic turns and moves, which made her, seem to be slightly unhinged from all the work. Her boss, Lisa, gives a speech about the importance and value of tears before potential investors with passion and just a hint of desperation. Marla is the office veteran in charge of explaining orders to the new temp, Susan. The two have a frosty relationship as Marla is a hard-nosed manager and Susan is an MFA graduate with absent-minded professor vibe.

As the day unfolds, a Goddess appears in all blue to disrupt and destroy everyone's day. Provocatrix is the blue-clad trickster Goddess who pops in and out of the office world to tweak the insanity up, one detail at a time. Susan's scatterbrained tactics unnerve Marla's need for uniformity, while Marla's mother chimes in occasionally via cell phone to show a softer side. Lisa fights for diminishing funding for research while Simi tries to delve into the science of crying. As the tension rise, all the characters are forced to confront the very thing they're running away from by being in the office. When they fight their nature, nature fights back with malfunctioning sprinkler systems, dive-bombing birds, flash storms, and mini earthquakes.

The cast of "We Play" is exceptional, with each actress bringing a different edge and talent to the piece. Where Amber Gray is controlled grief as the character Simi, Erika Rolfsrud is desperate and flailing rage as the research director, Lisa. Annie Golden's uptight Marla is well-matched with a physically daft performance by Irene Sofia Lucio as the hapless temp. Alexandra Henrikson deserves special notice as the Blue Goddess, Provocatrix. Granted, she has the part with the most fun moments in it, but Henrikson uses her dancer-like nimbleness and comedic timing to control the space as a trickster with bigger goals in mind for the office people.

The writing and directing is equally brave, fun, and imaginative. It's hard to tell, though, who is who as "We Play" flows together as one piece. Kudos to the directors and playwrights for creating a piece with a distinctive comedic brilliance and underlying meaning behind the laughs. 14 creators sounds like a handful but it all comes together in "We Play for the Gods." Too many cooks don't always spoil the broth. Sometimes they make a feast.