In a grey Orwellian office – in what feels like a dystopian future – the four workers of Level 3 strive to meet their daily target of acquiring smiley faces. They’re constantly watched by CCTV cameras to check that they’re all as happy as their customers, and if they don’t do their jobs there’s the occasional threat of being put back on the streets where they came from, living with “mice in their pockets”.
Although it may not sound like it, Happy Hourby Tmesis Theatre is a hilarious piece of physical theatre that explores the “happiness industry” where happiness is packaged and sold to us. But the question is, can we really be happy all the time?
We join the employees of Level 3 on “Employee Simplification Day” – a magnificent euphemism for firing a few people. The team’s daily target of three smiley faces is suddenly increased to five and it’s all hands on deck. I wasn’t entirely sure how the workers acquired the smiley faces and logged people’s happiness, but this didn’t really matter. When they make a customer happy they get a smile on the board.
This scenario paved the way for some incredible physical sequences that made Happy Hoursuch a joy to watch. The talented cast of four pulled off these beautifully choreographed pieces with aplomb. There’s an office happiness routine, great dance moves, fantasy sequences including a superb tango between Dave (Charlie Hammond) and New Girl (a diminutive Eleni Edipidi), and a brilliant fight sequence over the misuse of office supplies. The cast utilise multi-purpose boxes on wheels to great effect by using them as desks, taxis and cages, as well as a place to hide props. There’s also great use of voice over and “happy” music – think Pharrell Williams.
The team manager trying to keep control of this chaos is Adam (Adam Davies), who came across as a David Brent-ish character with the voice of Chris Tarrant. I particularly enjoyed a sequence where he emulates Matthew McConaughey humming the money chant song while pounding his chest in The Wolf of Wall Street.
He’s awkward and uncomfortable, particularly with Jen (Jennifer Essex), who he certainly wants to be more than friends with even though she obviously can’t stand him. She’s a somewhat disgruntled employee who wants his job and has issues with all of her co-workers. She comes into her own in an enjoyable fantasy sequence where she believes she had been promoted.
The day’s events are made more challenging with the arrival of New Girl who speaks no English. I wasn’t sure if the language she was speaking real but she sounded like a Minion. She takes an instant dislike to Jen but has a mutual crush on sweet guy Dave, who describes himself as a warrior but is a bit clueless. Subjected to a horrible grilling by Adam and Jen who have “been on a course” he becomes unhappy which is of course a problem for the team and there are efforts to cheer him up which lead to an inevitable conclusion.
OverallHappy Houris an enjoyable 60 minutes of fast-paced physical comedy that demonstrates the futility of trying to be happy all the time. The physical sequences are what really make this show worth watching. Can we really be happy all the time? Watch the show and make your own mind up.
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