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<\/a>But then Bob\u2019s Holiday Office Party<\/em> devolves into lower than high school humor, and becomes downright offensive at one point. When the rest of the characters not only started making fun of a woman who’s mentally-ill, (or possibly physically<\/em> sick in some way,)* but also throwing<\/em> things at her, that was it for me. And I noticed that Ashley\u00a0had stopped laughing, too. By the end of the play, she was actually seething. *[Note: I realized later that I’m actually not really sure exactly what<\/em> the woman’s situation is; I just know it’s a very sad one. The actors talk over each other so much in her scene that it’s possible they explained what’s going on with that character, but neither Ashley\u00a0nor I heard it.]<\/p>\nSo, as always, I’m going to be fair and give you the yin-and-yang of it all, and you can decide for yourselves if it’s your cup of tea. (I actually had to have my own<\/em> cuppa when I got home to soothe myself from the insensitivities of this show.)<\/p>\n On the positive side, I was put in a great mood right off the bat, as I entered the theatre and saw the festive set by Amanda Knehans. I’m sure it’s meant to be holiday overkill, but it made me feel like we were peeking-in on a real<\/em> small-town office party.<\/p>\n The set. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n Then a pleasant woman, (who turned-out to be in the show,) came out on stage to greet the audience. She asked how many had seen the show before, and I was very surprised that about two-thirds of them had. Some people had even seen it five or ten times, which I cannot imagine, now that I’ve<\/em> seen it!<\/p>\n Bob\u2019s Holiday Office Party<\/em> is set in a one-man insurance office in a little town in Iowa, where the owner, Bob, (of course,) is having his annual Christmas fete. It features a cast of five men and four women, with one of the latter playing two roles. Some of the actors have been doing this play for decades!!!<\/p>\n The performers are all good. Since I’ve never seen any of them before, it made it easier to envision them as their characters. I noted that they\u2019re all much older actors and actresses than I usually see around town, which is perhaps why they’re confident enough to not push too hard in their performances, which I appreciate. It seems that a lot of younger ones in other productions are saying \u201clook at me\u201d with every line.<\/p>\n But, because<\/em> of those ages, there really needs to be a slight adjustment to the script. The characters say that they haven\u2019t seen one of them in twenty-five years, which they also mention was back in high school. But most of the actors are all close to seventy<\/em>! That means that it would have been fifty<\/em> years since they had seen each other, not even close to twenty-five<\/em>! Bob\u2019s Holiday Office Party<\/em> has been going on for twenty-five years now, so it’s time to change that part of the narrative. If they can update the topical political humor each time out, I’m sure they can also change that one word!<\/p>\n Photo by Marissa Drammissi, as is the one at the top of this review.<\/p><\/div>\n So, as I said, that first half is really funny; it provides lots of laughs, even though the first fifteen minutes are one scene between just two of the men. Like a real<\/em> party, I kept wondering when the action would get going!<\/p>\n And then it finally did, with mostly amusing characters. Bob, played by Rob Elk, (who’s also one of the duo of writers,) is perfect as the voice of reason. And Mark Fite, as the stoner of the group, is a riot, for the most part. (Until he starts throwing things at the unfortunate woman I mentioned at the top.) After all this time together, he was even cracking-up his cohorts in the performance that I saw.<\/p>\n (L-R) Andrea Hutchman, the woman who spoke at the top of the show, and Judy Heneghan. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n The theatre sells booze before the show, and I could hear those alcohol-fueled guffaws all the way through. That bit of \u201choliday cheer\u201d seems to be a part of the whole experience for many. But I hate seeing drunk people, both in person or on a stage, so once all but two of the characters got sickeningly inebriated, the show sort-of fell apart for me. And I was horrified watching the cast drink out of the same cups, bottles, and cans; I would have felt the same way even if Covid was not<\/em> still running rampant. I cringed every time they did it.<\/p>\n Another thing that made me cringe is that, to demonstrate just how dumb his character–the town sheriff–is, Joe Keyes, (who’s also one of the writers,) kept mispronouncing \u201clarynx\u201d as \u201clar-a-nix.\u201d While that’s a great example of utter stupidity, that imbecility is like nails on a chalkboard to me.<\/p>\n I assume that Bob\u2019s Holiday Office Party<\/em> is billed as an irreverent comedy, but there’s still nothing humorous about a mentally-ill person to begin with, and definitely not about the abuse of her! (As you can tell, I just can’t get over the soullessness of that<\/em> bit!)<\/p>\n Mark Fite. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n Then, towards the end, that actress comes out again, but as a hooker (or the town floozy or something like that) this time. I heard Bob softly mention that she’s the twin sister of the other<\/em> character, but not everyone caught it. Ashley\u00a0definitely didn’t, nor did a few others I overheard discussing the show on the way out. The hooker character is bad enough on her own, but if, as Ashley\u00a0thought, she was the same woman as before, and was different now<\/em> because she has bipolar disorder, that would be even worse. So they need to make that distinction much clearer.<\/p>\n So there you have it\u2014all sides of the story. If it were not for the twin sisters’ parts in the show, I could recommend it, even with the several alcoholic characters, the depiction of whom is never<\/em> entertaining to me. If it were presented in acts, I would say to go for Act I and leave at intermission. But if everything else I said attracts you, go for it. And make your own decision on what you witness. After all, if so many people are making multiple returns to Bob\u2019s Holiday Office Party<\/em>, you<\/em> just might enjoy it, as well.<\/p>\n Bob\u2019s Holiday Office Party<\/em> running through December 18, 2022<\/strong> BOB’S HOLIDAY OFFICE PARTY The first half of this one-hour-and-forty-minutes show is very funny, and even includes some good topical political humor. My friend Ashley and I laughed through most of it, with all of my notes being very positive. But then Bob\u2019s Holiday Office Party devolves into lower than high school humor, and becomes<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>
\n The Beverly Hills Playhouse<\/strong>
\n 254 S. Robertson Blvd., Beverly Hills<\/strong>
\n www.onstage411.com\/BHOP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"