I’ve just had the strangest Fringe experience so far this year and became a ‘temp’ for an hour. Temping’ is billed as ‘immersive, interactive’ and you are the only participant. Signing your ‘temp’ contract and reading your ‘handbook’ containing supposedly useful ‘help sheet’ diagrams of how to use an Excel spreadsheet etc makes you feel a little unnerved.
Is this really just a piece of ‘theatre’ or will I be expected to know what to do? The unsettling experience continues as you enter the space filled with familiar office debris: the cardigan on the back of the chair, the fiddle toys, ‘fun’ cartoons on the wall. It’s hard to concentrate on what you are being told whilst trying to take it all in visually.
‘Temping’ very cleverly uses the office technology to tell the stories. There’s Sarah Louise, who you are replacing, with their office life spread before you and their increasingly personal voice memos; answer phone messages, (yes, you really do have to press 1 for voicemail); emails addressed with your name pop up; a printer that ominously kicks into life, regularly spitting out messages, clearly not for you; overheard office conversations and passive aggressive office reminders.
You are even required to carry out tasks like updating a spreadsheet with help from the absent Sarah. The moments when nothing is happening are even more worrying as you can’t help thinking you ought to be working and are on edge anticipating the next demand.
You are in an actuary’s office space dealing with life expectancy statistics. After a request to update a spreadsheet, (I don’t want to give too much away) there follow some genuinely poignant moments when printed snapshots of someone’s life appear and you can’t help but reflect on your own life.
Dutch Kills Theatre and Wolf 359 who developed ‘Temping’ are USA based and I found the American setting a little jarring as it distances you from the familiar UK office and the weird feeling of being immersed in ‘real life’ rather than being in a ‘performance’ isn’t as strongly felt.
‘Temping’ may not be ‘conventional’ theatre but I still left the space feeling ‘changed’ and isn’t that what ‘theatre’ is all about? I walked out with a renewed sense of wanting to really ‘live’ my remaining years of life and that definitely doesn’t include sitting in an office cubicle.
