BRIGHTON, MI–What does an office, a raunchy book, a clock, a jumper, and a week-at-a-glance all have in common?  You will have to go to A Wilde Theatre in Brighton, Michigan October 20-29, plus one additional performance November 5 at 3PM, to find out! 

Office Hours, by Norm Foster, is a romp through the what-ifs of life with an office setting; weaving humor into everyday situations, and captivating audiences with its amusing characters and intertwining stories.

Set in a simple Canadian city office space, the play revolves around six different office spaces with six seemingly different people: a lawyer, two movie producers, a horse-track owner, a psychologist, and a news producer. With an ensemble cast of humorous archetypes–lovers and cheaters, overbearing parents, fire-happy bosses, incompetent employees, and super depressive types, Foster connects the seemingly disconnected characters and stories through humorous twists and turns.

Directed by Lynn Wilde, the cast does an excellent job of inhabiting different roles in each vingette: Fred Buchalter who opens and closes the play in two different roles–frustrated reporter Warren Kimble and overbearing father Lloyd Penny.  Buchalter has very good comedic timing delivering the Foster banter. Foster’s sharp and witty dialogue is at the center of Office Hours.” The clever one-liners and humorous exchanges keep the audience giggling start to finish. 

The set and stage design by Al Pelky and assistant Greg Maida, complement the play’s themes perfectly, especially as small details are changed between the vignettes to stage the typical office environment while still allowing room for the characters’ personalities to shine. 

And It’s all about the details. The playwright weaves the separate tales in the different vignettes all occurring between 3:30 – 5 pm on a Friday afternoon. A clock on the set wall, reminds the audience that timing is a key detail in Office Hours. A Wilde Theatre owner, Lynn Wilde, and the light, sound and board operator, Aspen Jendrusik, moonlight as the set dressers between each scene.  In bright blue lighting, small details are changed to accent the personality of the office owner and are switched in a brief transition. At first awkward, but eventually growing on the audience as they laugh at picture straightening and even earning extra applause before the lights come back up. 

Also featuring: Ian Campbell, Ross Freelan, Joe Gaskill, Mary Lukowski, Amanda Ruth and Kathleen Wilmoth.

Office Hours brings the mundane world of office life to the forefront with charm and humor. Foster creates endearing characters. If you’re looking for a night of laughter and a respite from the daily grind, Office Hours will leave you with a smile on your face long after the final curtain falls.