Welcome To The Jungle

Unpaid internships used to be the purview of rich kids who can afford it. Arranged by their parents, these positions (similar to an Ivy League education) were really meant to give these young elites the opportunity to build networks. But with the economy in shambles, it seems every business now offers them, without any of the wink-wink benefits or even the possibility of employment. And graduates, desperate for "experience", slave for no pay.

Writer Kat Sandler situated her new play Retreat in this environment. After a year of unpaid internships, 4 interns have been shipped off to a business retreat held at a former kids' summer camp. The play started with their simultaneous interviews, where each candidate tried to put a positive spin on every question. It was cringe-inducing to watch people abase themselves for no money. The humour came from their fumbling "yes-man" answers: factoid-gathering nerd Paul (Michael Musi), "Lean In" go-getter Nicole (Nicole Buscema), alpha bro Jordan (Justin Goodhand), and TV-obsessed wallflower Kira (Mara Zigler).

Flash forward a year, these employees now find themselves alone at camp under the cheerful but no-nonsense authority of camp counselor Candace (Kat Letwin). Each were given a life token (a small red ball) as well as a spirit animal name and were instructed to find a way to take them all over the next few days. Though it was left unsaid what the point was, as this contest seemed dubious as a team-building exercise, all came to the conclusion that a permanent job was on the line. Things got tense and intense. By the time the truth-or-dare session came, the situation was bad and getting worse. Then everything really went off the rails.

The packed Wednesday night crowd found many scenes hilarious. But I noticed there were two camps. Those in their 20s and 30s loved every moment. Anyone in their 40s or older were less enthused with the humour. Different experiences of work is my suspicion. Some scenes were a bit too "speechifying". For example, tying an old tragedy from the camp's past into a commentary about the current state of business/"playing the game" was heavy-handed. Overall the actors inhabited their roles well. A scene between Kira ("If this was the movie version ... you'd tried to seduce me") and Jordan ("I'm not seducing you because you're not pretty") was especially enjoyable with its screwball-esque feel.