Robert Quillen Camp
Portfolio
Procedures for Saying NoPETE, 2016
Writer
Procedures for Saying No is an ensemble-driven theater piece, inspired by Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener” and Moby Dick, that interrogates the protocols of the contemporary white-collar office to unpack the deep fears that underpin our most trivial activities. As a group of workers face ecological collapse and are forced to claim their office as a living space, they race to invent more and more procedures, finally leading to a recognition of themselves as both more and less than human. Funny and brutally sad, Procedures places its audience inside a fully built-out office, and provides a set of tasks and procedures for them to complete, replicating the boredom of empty work while punctuating it with fleeting moments of meaning.
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Written by Robert Quillen Camp
Directed by Rebecca Lingafelter
Scenic Design by Peter Ksander
Lighting Design by Miranda Hardy
Costume Design by Jenny Ampersand
Sound Design by Mark Valadez
Created with the company: Jacob Coleman, Cristi Miles, Amber Whitehall, Linda Austin, Murri Lazaroff-Babin
Writer
Procedures for Saying No is an ensemble-driven theater piece, inspired by Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener” and Moby Dick, that interrogates the protocols of the contemporary white-collar office to unpack the deep fears that underpin our most trivial activities. As a group of workers face ecological collapse and are forced to claim their office as a living space, they race to invent more and more procedures, finally leading to a recognition of themselves as both more and less than human. Funny and brutally sad, Procedures places its audience inside a fully built-out office, and provides a set of tasks and procedures for them to complete, replicating the boredom of empty work while punctuating it with fleeting moments of meaning.
Written by Robert Quillen Camp
Directed by Rebecca Lingafelter
Scenic Design by Peter Ksander
Lighting Design by Miranda Hardy
Costume Design by Jenny Ampersand
Sound Design by Mark Valadez
Created with the company: Jacob Coleman, Cristi Miles, Amber Whitehall, Linda Austin, Murri Lazaroff-Babin
PRESS
“Procedures for Saying No is an absurdist salve for the hamster-wheel-cubicle-lives we live. It's like the cast of "The Office" did LSD.”
- OPB State of Wonder
“One of the key questions Procedures for Saying No asks is, are our protocols and procedures sufficient for the abyss yawning down the aisle of our cubicles? Or, how quickly are we reduced to playing the cockroaches left after the annihilation? Short answers: no and pretty fast.... there’s no substitute for seeing it.... perfect.”
-OR Arts Watch. Full Review
“It’s unlikely you will mistake it for any other play in your memory.” - THRU Magazine.
“A unique expeience... I recommend you see this one -- it will give you a lot to think about.” - Broadway World Full Review