Assistance | The Ex
Assistance
Written by Leslye Headland
Produced by ART Institute at The Ex
Directed by Scott Zigler
Scenic Design by Kristin Loeffler
Lighting Design by Chris Hudacs
Costume Design by Elizabeth Rocha
Sound Design by Brendan F Doyle
Images Courtesy of Evgenia Eliseeva
This is an excerpt from a recording of the opening performance of Assistance. It occurs early in the play, as we are first introduced to the characters and their environment. The phones ring non-stop, but somehow there is still time for mean-spirited pranks and jibes at each other. We hear the phone ring, an actor answer, mute himself on the phone to bark a command at his colleague, then jumps back on the call and continue in their frenetic way. In a lull, they decide to taunt the intern, the only person lower than them on the office totem pole. They keep him on hold, imply that he’s about to get an earful from the boss, and then give him an earful of their own by pressing a key on their phones to create a loud painful sound. This sound, referred to as Three’ing someone, is a reference to how their boss often hits that number on his phone as he angrily hangs up a call. The sound heard here is the result of the DTMF tone for the number 3, fed through a closed loop feedback system, causing it to clip and distort, as well as a sense of oscillation as the phone system tries to compensate.
Two assistants try to stay afloat through a barrage of phone calls and abuse
Production Overview
Assistance focuses on the comings and goings of various assistants in the office of a high powered man we never see. He is abusive, and that contempt for one’s fellow man trickles down into the support structures that enable him. The play focuses on a young couple who struggle to break free of the hero-worship of the villain in their lives. Their lives are experienced through their screens: Caller ID displays, iPads, clocks, and laptops; communication is low fidelity, indirect, and impersonal, if not openly hostile. To express this, sounds from the office were localized to a set of three small speakers, each with a driver about two inches in diameter. Phones ring constantly, YouTube videos get played and we hear unseen characters call in on speakerphone. All of these sounds are filtered and lose their lower frequencies, as well as unnaturally boosting harsher high frequencies. In contrast, the interludes between scenes, where former assistants monologue about their experiences, are bookended with loud, lively full-frequency funk music.
A former assistant exacts cathartic revenge on the office that caused so much pain