If PUSH UP 1-3, presented here as an English translation of the German original, is any indication, then the idiosyncratic nature of corporate life is rather universal these days. In this clever compilation of vignettes, playwright Schimmelpfennig introduces the audience to a series of serio-comic duets wherein the characters are as unaware of their commonalties as they are hyperaware of their career rivalries.

The three core scenes of PUSH UP, book-ended by two scenes featuring building security guards who provide both vital exposition and concluding remarks, all take place within the same, anonymous corporation. All segments of a single, general narrative, it is the individual encounters that give the play weight. Two women compete for position, never recognizing that their inner fears and doubts are all but identical. A man and a woman who shared an office party tryst, only to ignore one another thereafter never see the common bond between them. Finally, two men, seemingly at opposite ends of the success ladder have the tables turned.

On paper, PUSH UP 1-3 does not sound nearly as intriguing and smart as it is, so you will have to accept my word for it. It captures all of the sad, sorted subculture of the corporate star and rising star, and it makes the blue collar folk (here the security guards) seem all that more grounded for not getting caught up in the politically correct posturing, positioning and placating that the upwardly mobile white collar crowd are seemingly married to these days.

So, see PUSH UP 1-3. It may even help you to make light of your own daily corporate reality!

- Kessa De Santis -

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