"The Receptionist" ending (spoiler alert?)
"The Receptionist" ending (spoiler alert?)
#1"The Receptionist" ending (spoiler alert?)
Posted: 6/3/08 at 9:47amI wanted to see the play "The Receptionist" with Jayne Houdyshell and was unable to go...I heard there was a very surprising ending about what the office actually was. Could anyone please tell me? Thank you!
Yankeefan007
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
#2re: 'The Receptionist' ending (spoiler alert?)
Posted: 6/3/08 at 10:05am
Deceptively simple and brilliant play that I was lucky enough to see early in previews and then closing night. Two totally different shows by that point.
The play begins with the office boss Mr. Raymond (Robert Foxworth) standing in front of a camcorder, talking to somebody about what he does to de-stress his life. We then are in the office. Beverly (Houdyshell) solves the problems of the world as the receptionist. Then Mr. Dart (Josh Charles) comes in and shakes things up. He takes Mr. Raymond to the Central Office, never to be heard from again.
Next day, Lorriane, the co-worker (Kendra Kassebaum), goes on a coffee break - turns out she flees the office. Mr. Dart returns, finds out Lorraine is gone, and, at the very end, takes Beverly, who seemingly knows "nothing" in for questioning. Blackout.
It's very obviously the CIA or an organization like the CIA which specializes in extreme forms of torture when interrogating criminals. Bock's strength is that he doesn't let too many details get in his way - hence the deceptive simplicity of it.
mc1227
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/07
#3re: 'The Receptionist' ending (spoiler alert?)
Posted: 6/3/08 at 10:25pmYes, very unique story and very well done. Best of the MTC season by far.
The only review of a show that matters is your own.
ashley0139
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/3/05
#4re: 'The Receptionist' ending (spoiler alert?)
Posted: 6/3/08 at 11:26pmI saw it twice and very much enjoyed it. I understood Bock's intention, but I really would liked to have been given a little more.
"This table, he is over one hundred years old. If I could, I would take an old gramophone needle and run it along the surface of the wood. To hear the music of the voices. All that was said." - Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife
#5re: 'The Receptionist' ending (spoiler alert?)
Posted: 6/4/08 at 12:36am
It was interesting sure, and Houdyshell was fantastic but, I felt the central tension was just a rehash of something that was done much better in two scenes in Far Away. Unique isn't really an adjective I would apply to it. Obvious and slight, perhaps. But a heartfelt try. Certainly from the pen of a talented writer... just not a very mature work... in my opinion.
kmc
Jesus saves. I spend.
Videos