Surreally funny, this satirical play is just slightly too shallow to skewer the inanity of 21st century office life. On the day of a job interview, Ben witnesses a man’s death and takes his lanyard, propelling our hero into a series of unearned promotions. There are a lot of laughs; the songs are a highlight but, like pie-charts in a poorly constructed PowerPoint presentation, they’re robbed of impact by being erratically scattered through the show. The juxtaposition of the surreal with the mundane is effective, as is the lampooning of vacuous phrases such as “gaining traction” and important-sounding acronyms. To perform a SWOT analysis, the show’s greatest strength is also its greatest weakness: too many ideas not fully developed.

Pleasance Courtyard, until 25 Aug.
tw rating 3/5 | [Andy Leask]