Anybody who has been a victim being low level cog in a workplace should understand the frustrations of the secretary in the office space. The play is about stress of office work pushing junior staff to the limits sparking a cycle of rebellion against the direct chain of command. These individuals are ready to use hook or crook to break the cycle and that is exactly what the secretary does. It is difficult not to feel sorry for the disgraced manager despite his failings; however, there is a strong sense of poetic justice since he used a similar means to work his way to the top albeit in different circumstances. The overriding themes in the play are abuse of power and betrayal.
Precisely, the play has a realistic owing to the writer’s choice in setting, diction and themes. The official setting works together with word choice to reinstate this mood in the play. It is realistic in the sense that it indicates the causes and consequences of actions that take place. For instance, we see that the disharmony within the office costs the manager his job. It lies within his responsibility to ensure that team work and cooperation are the driving force within the workplace. Instead he pushes everyone to the sidelines and his department is divided unmotivated and lacks cohesion
The performance should depict a very strict result-oriented manager who is detached from the reality and treats his staff like machines with no regards for their comfort or well-being. Her persona, therefore, must portray this workaholic character and deluded confidence that everything is running smoothly in his department. She is therefore one transactional leader who excels at dishing out commands and chores to the secretary but has a largely distorted social skills, can hardly ask an employee the simple questions; “You look a little tired today, are you okay?” Instead she is the kind of boss that you meet in the morning and he asks you if you are done with the documents on your desk, no pleasantries. On a positive side, he loves his job and is ever working, working even harder that most of his juniors. At the same time, she is a very creative capable of genius ideas that get executives on their feet, as shown by the instant effect of his business proposal
The secretary on the other hand, is an overworked employee who is frustrated by the job. The pile of documents grows bigger no matter how hard she works. She is a social person who talks at length with other employees and is perturbed by their situation. In sharp contrast, she is an opportunist who takes advantage of her boss’ work to reward herself a promotion. To make it worse she is not remorseful over her actions and addresses her former boss unsympathetically upon her dismissal.
To a greater extent this play is an accurate depiction of the modern reality. In most organizations, there is a huge gap between the top management and the lower level employees. This crack in the fabric of the society creates a situation whereby the junior staff feel left out in key decision making at the organization which compromises their overall productivity. Generally, managers set overambitious and unrealistic expectations on their staffs that often put too much pressure on them.
What the writer intend the play to leave the audience with is a strong message on social relationships in the workplace. The manager’s role is not only to command but to listen to views and concerns of other employees. This ensures mutual understanding and unity in the workplace. At the same time, he emphasizes on a merit based reward program that assures employees that hard work pay. If this is not put into consideration, people are left with no option other than underhand methods to seek promotion.
