She definitely isn’t the only one who’s ever felt trapped by a time-clock, but playwright Amy Plenn takes the idea of being a “wage slave” to a new level in Mandatory Overtime, a strikingly theatrical and delightfully weird piece that’s all the more impressive for the fact that it is her “debut play” as a writer.
Somewhat more experienced as an actress, Plenn is also one of the stars of this world premiere, which viscerally succeeds as an indictment of malignant capitalism more than in telling a coherent story, though, given the play’s more absurdist stylings, this may be partially by design.
Before I start digging into what the show was “about” in a broader sense, I’ll get the basic premise out of the way with a few sentences from the description that should give you a pretty good sense of the vibe:
“A group of girls are trapped inside an office building. They don’t know why they’re there, or how long they’ve been there, or who exactly they’re working for. “
In other words, though it has some of the trappings of a typical workplace comedy like The Office, the philosophical spirit of the play leans closer to Waiting For Godot. It’s a clever idea that perhaps could’ve been executed with a little more clarity or subtlety, but the clumsier aspects of the play’s construction are ultimately overshadowed by the sheer power of its imagery.
For instance, take the Girl Under the Table, whose snarling, feral presence as she crawls around the stage or lurks under a desk is one of the first hints that we’re dealing with something quite a bit stranger than a typical 9-5.
Then there’s the play’s shocking climax, which I won’t spoil the specifics of but which brutally breaks through the otherwise somewhat procedural structure in a cathartic moment of embodied collective rage. Especially considering that this compact show only runs about an hour, it’s worth enduring the occasional tedium of slower paced expositional scenes for the chance to have your expectations violently shattered by this intense denouement.
Sometimes Plenn’s attempts at cultural critique feel a bit heavy-handed, but there are plenty of other moments where her satirical jabs hit brilliantly, such as the idea that the play’s “employees” are not allowed to grieve for a recently deceased coworker until a “designated mourning break.”
Underneath the play’s fun comedic flourishes, Plenn seems to be reaching towards a quietly devastating conclusion about how easy it is to lose one’s self entirely in the effort to keep up with a never-ending daily grind. While most of us aren’t literally imprisoned at our workplaces, the idea that survival might be contingent on showing up for a shift is alarmingly un-farfetched for most modern Americans, meaning that her exaggerated framing landed for me with the gravity of a real emotional truth.
Making the most of their versatile black box space at Imagine Performing Arts Center, the play’s set and costume design is economical and efficient at setting the corporate scene. Sitting close to the stage, I had no problems deciphering the dialogue, but did notice some fluctuations in volume level that make me wonder if I would have felt the same if I had been sitting further back, though I’m not sure to what extent this is a sound design issue vs a projection issue on certain actors’ parts.
Otherwise, the play’s cast does a commendable job at bringing the story to life, though the confidence and energy levels of some key performers fluctuated too much for me to be able to say that they maximized the enormous potential of their quirky characters, which could have been partly a direction issue. Ironically given the play’s feminist leanings, it’s actually the one male actor in the play’s ensemble cast (Sean McKinley) who makes the biggest comedic splash onstage with his vibrant portrayal of a bureaucratic buffoon.
For an up-and-coming young company like Bacchus Theatre Collective, it’s a solid effort that reveals enormous potential, and I admire the group’s choice to produce a bold new work by a new local playwright as opposed to some listless old standard. Though their production of Mandatory Overtime had some obvious weak points, I was consistently engaged and entertained by it regardless, finding myself surprisingly charmed by the sheer wackiness of this audacious theatrical experiment.
Overall, if you can get away from your desk for long enough to clock in for a quick shift in the audience this weekend, Mandatory Overtime is a great choice for any Orlando theatregoers willing to take a chance on something funny, poignant, and truly out-of-the-box.
TICKETS AND SHOWTIMES:
Playing at the Imagine Performing Arts Center (1220 Oviedo Mall Blvd. Oviedo, FL 32765) for two remaining performances on:
August 15th, 2026 at 8 PM
August 16th, 2026 at 2 PM
Tickets are $13 per person and available online here
FULL CREDITS:
Cast
Jenny – Jazmine Steele
Taylor – Angela Oldeack
Neve – Jenn Schell
Helena -Erica Olsson
Odette – Amy Plenn
Brian – Sean McKinley
Crew
Director: Josa Eve Alvarez
Playwright: Amy Plenn
Producers: Josa Eve Alvarez & Amy Plenn
Stage Manager: Tim Crighton
Assistant Stage Manager: Erica Olsson
Choreographer: Erica Olsson
Technical Directors: Soph Rubin-Siegel,
Kyra Martin & Mike Corbisiero
Sound Designer: Amy Plenn
Sound Board Operator: Kyra Martin
Light Designers: Soph Rubin-Siegel & Mike Corbisiero
Light Board Operator: Mike Corbisiero
Poster Designer: Josa Eve Alvarez
Playbill Designer: Josa Eve Alvarez
Marketing Coordinators: Josa Eve Alvarez,
Soph Rubin-Siegel & Erica Olsson
Stagehands: Vlad Boevers & Eric Shekoskic