Martin Dockery from Brooklyn New York presented The Review at the Orlando International Fringe Festival. In this show, two lawyers met in an office. The younger lawyer wanted to go over a performance review. There was unspoken tension from the start and it became clear that the elder lawyer felt he should be in the position to perform the review rather than be judged. Both lawyers probably would not be in the firm if not for the hard work of their fathers.
The office was frames out by a simple string of lights on the stage floor. On occasion the lawyers would ask the lighting to change since it must have been a smart office run by Alexa.
Martin Dockery played the part of the lawyer receiving the review. When it came time to point out how his performance was lagging, he mentioned an inappropriate photo he found on his wife’s computer. The photo was of the other lawyer half clothed trying to look sexy. The photo may have been sent by mistake to the wrong woman, or it might have been sent on purpose.
The quick-witted banter back and forth was a delight to watch and the underlying tension was eased by the hilarious way the drama played out. The two lawyers tried to push the photo incident aside and get back to the business of the review but it was the elephant in the room and it charged back any time Martin’s position in the firm seemed threatened.
The mysterious smoochie faced photo became the primary bargaining piece in the review. Rather than having his job threatened, Martin insisted that he deserved a promotion to become on the partners in the law firm. To protect his reputation, the younger lawyer had to agree that the promotion was a very good idea and well deserved. The review went swimmingly for Martin despite his questionable performance record. He was a hard-hitting negotiator that anyone would want working for them in a courtroom case.
In describing the business-like nature of the Review you might thing the show would be stiff and dry. But there was a playful undercurrent in every exchange. These two men must have grown up together and they were used to laying the game of one upping one another. It was like Willie Loman from Death of a Salesman was having a wish fulfillment dream. His marriage might be on the rocks but he certainly had a guaranteed position in the firm.