"Assistance" at Playwrights Horizons, February 9, 2012
Traveling familiar ground, the latest offering at the very consistent Playwrights Horizons is Leslye Headland's Assistance, about the struggling underclass of capitalist serfs, suffering at the hands of an unseen tyrant. In this case the invisible antagonist is Daniel Weisinger, a highly volatile agent/representative (Barry Diller-like, perhaps?) in an unnamed industry, who wields fear, loathing and admiration from a series of put-upon administrative assistants. At the top of the play, Vince, a slick and smarmy Lucas Near-Verbrugghe, celebrates the last day of his sentence before stepping up into a coveted "director" role (also undefined). Following him up the corporate ladder is Nick, a likable Michael Esper, who takes on the part of chief torturer among the cadre of assistants. Advancement comes at a high price. Even Vince has to knuckle under to Daniel vagaries in his last moments as servant.
