Person Spec
This is not a normal theatre show. It is a job interview. And you are the panel.
Will they get the job? You decide.
★★★★
“An initially daft and ultimately disturbing one-woman show that you would call dystopian if it were not so crushingly familiar.”
– The Guardian
“Person Spec deftly balances the piece’s humour and darkness, bringing out the inherent absurdity of the recruitment process that it is skewering.”
– The Stage
Marion is on the precipice of a new career. But first she must become the CEO of her own life. Whether or not she can depends on the audience – with the help of Zantion Recruitment’s 'Dynamic Assessment Centre'.
Person Spec explores the cost of making ourselves into what labour market needs. It ask whether we can retain some humanity and identity while still playing the corporate 'game'.
The show written by Andy Owen Cook after he was made redundant twice in once year. It was researched with the contributions of people with experiences of precarious labour and created by an international team of creatives from the UK, Spain and Portugal. It is a co-production with Alphabetti Theatre.
The Team
Producer – Belisa Branças
Stage Manager – Frances Allison
Writer – Andy Owen Cook
Direction – Alfie Heffer & Andy Owen Cook
Dramaturg – Olga Hernández
Performer – Inés Collado
Sound & Composition – Cameron Naylor
Set Design – Jack Poole
Digital Developer – Michael Cook
Video Artist – Aaron Mears
Videographer – Peter Martin
Theatre-maker – Damien Stanton
Theatre-maker – Emily Toth
Theatre-maker – Elinor Bryant
Theatre-maker – Reece Lumsden
Theatre-maker – Jess Corner
Theatre-maker – James Wilkinson
Theatre-maker – Georgia Brennan
With Thanks To
Ali Pritchard, everyone at Alphabetti Theatre, Guinevere Plouviez Comnas, Sarah Sharp, Theatre Deli, Camden People's Theatre, New Diorama, the Cook family, the Evans family, Paul Hernes Barnes, Royal Central School of Speech & Drama, Rex the theatre dog and many more people along the way.
Audience
“Funny, something you'll have never seen done before, lots of audience participation.”
“I thought it was very good and creative and original. I loved the interactivity, humour, and parts where it got all intense with the lighting and props and stuff. I also love how it drew attention to the reality of how humans are expected to dehumanise themselves for Corporate Overlords just to survive and make a living.”
“Absolutely radge”
“Black Mirror-esk bureaucracy black comedy dystopia that makes use of technology really well to tell the story”
“Hilarious. Mad. Dark.”
“Wild and accurate”
“An insane delight”
“Uncomfortable, too real, incredible”
“Ultra modern, 21st century, anti-modern Industrial Revolution”
“Don’t be afraid of the audience participation – it’s not scary and never singles anyone out!”
“It's a bit like The Stanley Parable, but is made of a real person and a screen with a guy sometimes on it. You get to toy with a stranger from the comfort of your seat to decide their fate. It's fun”
“The show psychologically damaged me in such a wonderful way”
“The worst nightmare about a job interview you’ve ever had”
“Nonsensical, hilarious, makes you feel bad for the candidate while at the same time full of power out of what can you make them do, a full on criticism to capitalism and society as we know”
I enjoyed the audience participation – some parts of the show made me feel really uneasy but I thought this was great as it reflected the feelings of the character”
“The silly capitalist hoops you have to jump through to get a job that you don’t even necessarily want”
“Capitalism, struggling to make a living”
“Very well done and beautifully performed.”
