WP (Women’s Project) Theater is the nation’s oldest and largest theater company dedicated to developing and producing work of female identified artists, especially early in their careers. What We’re Up Against is a dark comedy by Theresa Rebeck. Two of her plays, Seminar and Mauritius, have appeared on Broadway. This one takes place in an architecture firm in 1992. Krysta Rodriguez (First Date, The Addams Family) plays Eliza, the newest member of the team. She wants more work to do and, after five months on the job, is more than frustrated by the discrimination against her.
What We’re Up Against, therefore, is about women, the glass ceiling, the workplace and the good old boy’s club. Characters in this play include the young, inexperienced, talentless male mouthpiece (Skylar Astin) who gets the bigger projects. Throw in an older woman (Marg Helgenberger) who has dutifully played “the game.” Add in the whiskey swilling boss (Damian Young) who, when confiding with coworkers, is not afraid to use the word bitch. The play is a combustible mix of workplace anger and overwrought clichés.
I enjoyed the play perhaps more than the production. Because the direction is so broad and some line readings so exaggerated, the whole thing comes across as dated, cartoonish and unrealistic. Every curse word is loudly emphasized. Can Eliza, the most talented of the bunch, figure out a way to rise up in this male dominated world? How and at what price?
The structure of the play, its office scenes and monologues are very good. Jim Parrack (Of Mice and Men) as Ben was my favorite performance of the play. We sense Eliza’s real abilities through his character. Ben is a real person, believable amongst the chaos. Perhaps the hyped up direction was intentional? My view is that this rolling boil of a production would have benefitted from reducing the heat to simmer. Then we may have squirmed more which likely was Ms. Rebeck’s intention.
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