Small Talk
2023
#interactive performance
London, UK
A "game," akin to the essential workplace skill of "small talk." However, beneath this seemingly "easy-going" facade lies a game of interests for each individual within office politics.
Everyone wears a "suit" around their neck, I wear "HR," and the audience wears a "badge" with the back displaying a "moving box."
One participant randomly selects small talk prompts and asks other participants. At the end of each round, there's an anonymous vote on who should be fired.
Participants must improvise, introducing any bizarre content such as, "How is your mother's health this week? You must be exhausted coming back from the retirement home on Mars," as the small talk itself is merely a formality. In social interactions, sincerity remains unknowable.
Through these rounds, there emerges a sole victor who gains eligibility for a promotion to "manager" and a guarantee of not being fired for a year. Others "fired" must turn their badges in a different direction, resembling a "paper box" on their heads.
