The Office meets A.I. meets Orwell’s Big Brother in Marek Glinski’s entertaining if a tad over-complicated satirical absurdist black comedy Pigs And Chickens, the latest Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA World Premiere.

 Say hello to technical writer Wili (Sharon Freedman), whose “anger management problem” has not only cost her her last five jobs but custody of her 14-month-old daughter, which is why things had better go well for her at Human>GO (pronounced Humongo, as in “humongous” and “Go, Humans!”) and why she had better get along with the module designers with whom she’ll be working.

These include the hard-edged, foul-mouthed Stephanie (Lizzie Peet), expectant mother (and Mumbai native) Aditi (Poonam Basu), Aditi-obsessed on-the-spectrum Chris (Christopher Reiling), aspiring Iraqi-immigrant screenwriter Sam (Anil Margsahayam), and GQ/Men’s Fitness cover-ready CEO’s cousin Brian (Andy Shephard), the lot of them overseen by the perpetually cantankerous Brett (Don Cummings).

 Audience members paying extra close attention during Pigs And Chickens’ opening two minutes will grasp that the project these office drones are scrambling to finish is “Denise,” an “automated, talking Human Resources manager” programmed to “project warmth and professionalism that reassures the employee or job candidate who may be accustomed to interacting with a human Human Resources Manager,” in other words, an A.I replacement for the heretofore human being telling you to pack your things and be out of the building in an hour.

 Unfortunately, playwright Glinski throws out this information so lickety-split that if you’re anything like this reviewer, you’ll be so busy trying to figure out who’s who and what jobs they do and what the blazes they mean when spouting lines like “this SOAP call is being a pain in the ass because the server’s not recognizing the value of the HTTP header” that confusion may persist until way into the play.

 That’s not to say there isn’t plenty to keep an audience amused, not when Sharon is advising Chris that the best way to attract the married, pregnant, and obviously uninterested Aditi is to be “mysterious and aloof” (i.e. leave her the hell alone), or Sam is soliciting script-writing advice from the once almost greenlighted Wili on what is clearly a Lone Ranger rip-off (his is called The Lonely Avenger), or Brian has yet again climbed a tree for escape, or Brett is off in his office rehearsing the madrigal he’ll be performing this weekend at the local Renaissance Faire.

Funniest of all are Sharon’s “test subject” interviews with “Denise,” who calls herself Dennis and doesn’t quite get context and nuance. (When Sharon mentions having helped 8-month-pregnant Aditi with her contractions, Denise/Dennis responds “You gave her grammar advice? Because she’s a foreigner? She could file a complaint.”)

As for how Denise (or Dennis) might possibly affect the jobs of those working on her/his development, well, let’s just say that Pigs And Chickens takes a 1984-esque turn about halfway through.

 A onetime gig doing technical documentation for a startup gives Glinski’s play the ring of truth (if a tad too much technical jargon for easy consumption) and a cast of characters quirky enough to people a weekly sitcom, and with Kevin Comartin directing at a suitably breakneck pace, Pigs And Chickens proves a terrific acting showcase for its all-around fabulous cast anchored by Freedman’s powerhouse turn as a woman with more issues than Vogue (but less fashion sense).

 Scenic designer Amanda Knehans’s clever set makes us flies on three out of four office walls (the ladder-as-tree is a nifty touch), Maggie Clapis’s costumes fit each character’s idiosyncrasies, and Brad Bentz lights set, costumes, and office paraphernalia with flair.

Kudos too to David Boman’s edgy sound design, and for the way he’s “computer generated” producer Liz Ross and executive producer Keith Szarabajka’s voices as Denise/Dennis.

Priscilla Miranda is production stage manager.

With some plot-clarifying script revision and a bit less tech-nerd mumbo jumbo, Glinski’s play could be an all-around winner. As is, Pigs And Chickens is still worth a barnyard visit.

Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA @ Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave., Atwater Village.
www.ensemblestudiotheatrela.org

–Steven Stanley
April 6, 2018
Photos: Peter Carrier

Tags: Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA, Los Angeles Theater Review, Marek Glinski