Writer: Matt Roberts
Director: Tom Stabb
amendments: A Play on Words is a two-hander about issues of political correctness and free-speech which packs many great gags and a few decent arguments.
Kenneth (Matt Roberts) is an HR manager who meets with middle manager John (Al Wadlan) to discuss an ‘incident’. As the two discuss this incident, they find themselves debating the purpose of language, the drive for inclusivity and the possibilities of censorship. What makes the play more engaging than a simple debate, is the fact they discuss these things in their own registers and there’s a lot of fun with them speaking at cross purposes.
Roberts is also the writer of the piece and gives himself the most fun lines as Kenneth. He is a man fond of talking “supra-segmentally”, often providing gestures and mimes as he speaks – an elaborate bow-and-arrow mime to supplement the word ‘trajectory’ is particularly good. He also has wonderfully named personnel courses ranging from “filling the sarcasm-chasm” to “see you later allegation”. Finally, he gets to turn the flip chart, which includes a number of helpful office phrases, like the one aimed at home-based workers, “less bedsheets, more spreadsheets”. These are all aided by Roberts’s mobile face, which barely stands still for a second.
Wadlan as John gets the less flashy role. He’s more straight-talking than Kenneth, which is what is getting him into trouble in the first place. He rails against the obfuscation of politically correct corporate speech and for the freedom to express himself with the full range of human feelings and linguistic tools.
While the play focuses on the insincere nature of corporate politically correct speech it’s on firm ground but when it veers off into more sensitive territories of sexuality and gender, it teeters on the reactionary. Kenneth makes a speech about how the company used to be in the nineties, with racial slurs common, disabled employees tucked away in a basement and female employees at perpetual risk of harassment. He makes a good point about how the previous use of language always benefitted the straight, white, male and how the company wanted to move on from that. The problem is, that it’s Kenneth that says it.
Kenneth is too insincere, his motives too clearly false and menial for his justifications of politically correct language to ring true. This is especially clear compared to John’s sincerity and passion. What’s more, Kenneth is senior and uses his position to bully John, whereas we get the impression that John is, himself, a reasonable person to work with.
It might have added to the complexity of the piece if John’s fondness for plain speaking was justification for genuine bullying on his part. Without that, there is a definite element of a grandparent complaining about “political correctness these days…”
Runs until 14 November 2023
The Reviews Hub Score
Man yells at cloud
