Absurd Artificial Language in 'The Memorandum'
The Memorandum
Associated Press
Jennifer Farrar
November 4, 2010
The real-life absurdities of living under an authoritarian communist regime are well-known to Czech Republic author, one-time revolutionary and politician Vaclav Havel. After spending two decades as his country's foremost dissident and human rights champion, including several stints in jail, he was elected president from 1989 to 2003.
His 1968 play, "The Memorandum," which satirizes any bureaucracy that depends on surveillance, group-think, and deliberate distortion of language to achieve its goals, can currently be seen off-Broadway in a brisk, lighthearted production by TACT/The Actors Company Theater at the Beckett Theatre.
Crisply directed by Jenn Thompson, the spirited farce examines the absurdities of office politics and bureaucratic machinations.
Josef Gross, a managing director of a large, anonymous organization, is played to perfection by James Prendergast. Gross' orderly world is thrown into sudden turmoil after he receives an interoffice memo written in an unknown language. Despite years of corporate experience, Gross becomes ensnared in an increasing maze of Catch-22 dead-ends. Prendergast retains a delightful air of baffled dignity and humanity amid the confusion.
Gross' attempts to learn who authorized this new office language, Ptydepe (pronounced Tie-duh-pay), and to get his memo translated, lead him right down the rabbit hole into a Kafkaesque morass of circular regulations, ambitious plottings by underlings, and the dehumanizing effects of dealing with an institution that seems to exist only to perpetuate itself. He becomes a lone voice of reason speaking against the artificial language.
It's not even clear who's really in charge, since Gross' snakelike deputy director Ballas, played with smoothly devious charm by Mark Alhadeff, easily commands and even usurps power whenever he needs to. Ballas uses corporate doublespeak that confounds logic, such as "It is a paradox, but it is precisely the surface inhumanity of an artificial language, which guarantees its truly human function!"
Ballas has a mute but effective aide named Pillar, portrayed with vigorous, head-shaking silence by Jeffrey C. Hawkins. This outwardly comical pair move in tandem through much of the play, evidently plotting together and amassing power unctuously disguised as concern for the corporate good.
Filled with humor about office life and the nature of language, "Memorandum" is an intellectual play, with a script that is extremely wordy in places, especially when the action shifts to the Ptydepe classroom. The instructor, Lear, unhelpfully lectures office staff about how difficult it will be to learn the synthetic language. Joel Leffert does an admirable job as the verbose Lear, whose PowerPoint slides provide some comic relief to his very dense lectures about the mathematical complexities of Ptydepe.
Several female characters brighten the office scene. Gross' secretary (a perky Lynn Wright) primarily plays with her hair and runs out to get food. Kate Levy plays Miss Helena, a bossy, inappropriate executive who calls everybody "doll" and organizes endless office parties. Nilanjana Bose plays Helena's youthful secretary, Maria, with sincere optimism and poise, as the only other person in the office besides Gross who appears to have a soul or think independently.
The other office workers, including a do-nothing pair of self-styled Ptydepe experts played by John Plumpos and Trent Dawson, eagerly fall into lockstep with whatever is currently dictated by management. They hide behind the maze of policies and addendums, whipping memos out of files when needed to cover their own rear ends. All of them excel at "going to lunch."
Gross is an increasingly unheard voice of reason in this unrealistic arena. Despite the clean, white office furniture and bright red carpeting of Adrian W. Jones' glowingly efficient set, there's a pervasive air of unease and paranoia. Slightly ominous sound and lighting design are an integral part of the unsettling ambiance.
In the end, characters must decide if they will break away from the all-consuming corporate machinery, or give up and join the pack.