Satirical comedy, Assistance, opens at Pinch ‘N’ Ouch
Looking for a good laugh and little bit of commiseration after a 9-to-5? Pinch ‘N’ Ouch Theatre opens their regional premiere of Leslye Headland’s Assistance on April 12. Producing artistic director, Grant McGowen plays Vince in this office space comedy about what it takes to make, and if it is even worth it. Below, McGowen gives Busking at the Seams readers a sneak preview into what his character and the play portray.
Q. You are playing the role of Vince in Assistance, opening this week. The play centers around two workers Nick and Nora and their experiences with evil bosses and the tediousness of paying your dues. It seems like each character has their own gripes, what are Vince’s qualms in the workplace?
A. Vince is very serious about getting promoted. He is a machine or at least he wants to be. He might be too preoccupied on the task at hand to realize that his job may never bring him real happiness.
Q. The play’s satirical content rings true with a lot people’s true experiences, have you ever had a workplace horror that was your reality?
A. I’ve had a lot of tedious jobs that offered little reward, from mowing lawns to dressing up in tights as Robin Hood and handing out chocolate gold coins in Time Square. What I expect most can relate to is having to start at the bottom, doing absolute bitch work, and paying their dues – and there is comedy in that. People love to talk shit about my generation of 20 somethings being entitled to jobs, but lets face it, we’ve been dealt a pretty crappy set of cards in this economy. We’re coming out of college in debt competing with candidates with much more experience. It’s forced us to get creative and find a means of getting by. I think perhaps its made some reexamine the value of money, whether it be important or not so much. Every person has something to complain about with their jobs, which is fair, but at the end of the day I expect that jobs really don’t make people happy. People make people happy.
Q. The back bone of the story that grounds all of the humor is the constant struggle of whether it is all worth it. What will audience members linger upon after seeing the show?
A. I can’t speak for audiences. I’ve learned that responses and opinions often differ and can be really polarizing. After all, we all have different tastes, opinions, and come from different walks of life. It’s like flipping channels back and forth from CNN to Fox News. For me, I guess I think a lot about this: are we, as American’s, bred to selfishly compete with one another? If so, are we dehumanizing ourselves, alienating others, and compromising our capacity to love one another?
