Centenary Stage Company Takes on The Receptionist

The Centenary Stage Company presented an understudy performance of The Receptionist on Wednesday, March 5, 2025. The play was entirely performed by understudy  actors who learn the roles of the cast members in order to step in as replacements if needed. This production included understudies  Kylie Smith as Beverly Wilkins, Mark Squindo as Edward Raymond, Olivia Tomlin as Lorraine Taylor, and Damian Vince as Martin Dart.  

There are only two words to describe this play: comedic and exceptional! The cast understudies really brought their inner emotions throughout the entire performance.  

At the start of a typical day in the Northeast Office, Beverly, the receptionist, deals effortlessly with ringing phones and her colleague's romantic troubles. But the appearance of a charming rep from the Central Office disrupts the friendly routine. Something has gone wrong. A protocol was not followed. 

Gradually, the true nature of the company's business becomes apparent in this "twisty" and bizarre comedy by Adam Bock in his play about complacency and complicity that is more timely now than ever. 

"It's an office comedy...until it isn't," reads a review from the Chicago Sun Times.

The play starts out like a tediously protracted skit on the time-wasting rituals and insane coworker banter of corporate America. Mr. Raymond talks about hunting animals and the most humane way of killing them. Beverly is the formidable office lady who keeps the coffee pot brewing. But there is a darker point to this slow-drip dramatization, which is handled with patience and precision that goes beyond white collar mockery. Then, Martin Dart from the Central Office, arrives at the office for an urgent meeting with Mr. Raymond. What is really going on?

The plot escalates, and the purpose of the familiar office banter shifts. And then it happens; people can fool themselves into believing any situation is okay as long as the coffee and bagels keep coming. It seems “they” have arrived. Who is “they?” Well, you never saw them coming in this dystopian thriller.

The overall message of the play is whoever ends up leaving does not return. And just at the moment you begin to wonder what the heck is going on here, the play is over. “Clink. Clink.”

This scene stood out to me the most because what no one knows is Beverly–receptionist extraordinaire– dies at the end. It is very Orwell 1984, according to Stephen Davis, associate professor of theater arts. Except, in the play, the end is left for the audience to consider what happens without being clear. After hearing this, it makes total sense now that’s where the “Clink Clink” noise comes in.

I interviewed Victoria Autocunas, sophomore and Cyclone Chronicle staff member, who attended the play with me to get her reactions.

What was your overall impression of the play?

I thought it was crazy! I did not expect it to end that way!

What moment stood out to you the most and why?

The end because it gave me chills throughout my body when she was standing there very isolated before the prison gate closed. As someone very interested in crime, I did not think it was going to end like that.

What character did you connect with the most?

I connected with Beverly because she was very misunderstood and was put in a place that she shouldn't have been, wrong place wrong time.

Were there any moments that made you reflect on real-life issues?

It made me think of our criminal justice system because Beverly feels the real criminal was Martin Dart from the Central Office. He put her in a spot she should not have been in. 

I also had the opportunity to speak with Kylie Smith who played  the role of Beverly Wilkins, the receptionist.

What has been the most challenging aspect of portraying this character?

The most challenging aspect was trying to maintain the willful ignorance Beverly had while horrendous things were going on around her.

What is your favorite line or moment in the play? 

My favorite moment in the show is the only time all four of us are on together! Sometimes it can feel like all the weight is on my shoulders, but it was a reminder that we’re all in it together.

How would you describe the central message of the play?

The central message has a lot to do with the way we almost blindy comply with what people in power have to say without thinking about the risk taking that stand can pose to others around us and ourselves.

How does the cast’s dynamic influence your performance?

The cast dynamic of any show can make or break a production. Obviously, being able to do this with my friends, who I already have such great onstage chemistry with, made it more fun than it did daunting. As an understudy, having such a supportive main cast was the key to making this work. Without their dedication to the roles and to us, none of this would have worked as flawlessly as it did.

Next, I caught up with Jolene Richardson, visiting professor of fashion and costume design.

How do the costumes reflect the characters' personalities and development throughout the play?

Within any piece of theatre, the base of personality comes from the text. When I first sat down to read The Receptionist, I was struck by how specific each of the characters were. When you translate their personalities into the clothing that they wear, I referred back to the text to give me clues. Are they confident, nervous, wholesome, etc? This then informed a starting point. 

Then, I watch how the actors are playing with space and body language and their own experience imbued into the characters. We talked about who these people were and what their hobbies are outside the world of the play. For someone like Beverly, I wanted to show that even though she is in this corporate world, there are artistic touches to her. She collects tea cups and she sees more than she lets on, so there’s a softness to her. 

Whereas someone like our men, Mr. Dart, is cold and calculated playing within this system. Blacks and whites with touches of red become a powerful symbol for power. 

For Mr. Raymond, I went with greys and charcoals, a shade just under black, where he’s trying to be a Dart, but he hasn’t quite hit that mark yet.

What was the most challenging aspect of designing costumes for this particular play?

That would be “how do you make contemporary office wear interesting?” We see these pieces everyday in our 9-5 work world. Now, on everyday people, each piece does tell a story, but there is a uniformity to it in the real world, so you have to think when you’re telling a story where can I punch it up or over exaggerate certain elements. 

One of my favorite quotes from Costume Designer Alexandra Byrn is, “who is at odds and who is at ease in their environment?” That’s where the tension comes in.

Can you describe any specific materials, colors, or textures you chose, and why?

As I said above, colors and textures play a big role in specifying a character. Lorraine, for instance, uses these softer hues and textures. She’s younger, and I wanted her naivety and a slight immaturity in her relationships to come through. Even though she is working in this high powered office setting, her personal life hasn’t caught up with her professional life. 

When you also have such a specific set design like the world Kylie created for us and a character who spends 80% of the show seated behind a desk, I worked with the colors chosen to allow the actors to not be absorbed by their office. The lobby itself is a character, so it needs to stand on its own with the characters on stage.

What role do costumes play in helping the audience understand the world of the play?

I am definitely biased, but I believe that costumes are one of the most important elements to telling a story; we take up the most expensive real estate on stage which is the actor. That’s not to say that I am not collaborating with my other departments, but clothing plays a visual story in all our lives. 

Everyday, we all get dressed. Even if we don’t “think” about the clothes we wear, it all tells a story. When I design and the characters come out, the audience is judging them the moment they walk on stage, and a large part of that is from the costumes. I have to tell a visual story in seconds but also one that might slowly release over time. It’s a delicate balance.

Lastly I had the amazing opportunity to interview and speak with Chris Young, Centenary Stage Company’s managing director, who also plays Martin Dart in the play.

What are some of the logistical challenges you face in putting together a production like this?

There are always a ton of logistical challenges when putting on any production.  From budgeting, to creative, to technical - it's all like one big jigsaw puzzle.  I feel like the biggest logistical challenge is always on the technical side of things, and that's simply because there are really just so many moving parts on any production from design to build.

We always have so many things going on, and the turnaround time for everything is always very quick.  We only have about a 2-week rehearsal process, and then we move into tech week (where we start combining all the elements) and then performances.  

So, while the director, stage management, and actors are busy rehearsing, the design and technical teams are pulling very long days and tons of hours getting the set constructed and painted, dressed, hanging and focusing the lights, pulling and programming sound cues, getting props and costumes together.  Then, once we get to tech week, it's really only a couple rehearsals where we put all those pieces together before we have an audience. Those couple days of technical rehearsals can sometimes prove to be a bit logistically challenging. How challenging it becomes really just depends on how complex the production may be.

What kind of audience did you hope to attract with this production?

Any audience, haha!  This was a tough one to promote, but ultimately, we were hoping to attract the same type of audiences that might like shows like Severance or other sorts of off-beat, thriller, dark comedy, type material. It's hard because audiences– particularly audiences for theater–can be a bit finicky.  

Theatre people–meaning people who more regularly go to the theatre–are generally more inclined to see things that they may not be familiar with. But the general public is less likely to take those risks. 

Surprisingly, we actually had higher attendance figures than we had anticipated, which was a welcome surprise. Also, audiences haven't quite returned to their pre-pandemic numbers. They have certainly increased, and I think we're getting closer to those figures, but we're not quite there yet. Frankly, I'm not sure we'll ever really be back to that. The pandemic forever changed the way people consume the arts, and I think that's just a new reality we find ourselves in. 

How do you handle the challenges of promoting a play and ensuring it gets the audience it deserves?

Promotion is always difficult.  I think this play in particular was a unique challenge in really trying to find the right language for promoting it, which I'm not confident we really did.  How do you tell audiences what the play is about without actually telling them what the play is about and without spoiling it?

Promoting any show or event is just a challenge.  We have our typical channels - targeted digital advertisements, targeted hard mailings of postcards and other materials, e-blasts, postering and flyers, social media, press releases, speaker presentations at community organizations, radio commercials, and sometimes even TV commercials and billboards. 

But I've become a firm believer that people live in the comfort of their own bubbles and only want to know what they want to know when they want to know it. More often than not, they don't leave the comfort of their bubble.  

That doesn't stop us from doing all of those promotional things or from exploring new and other ways to promote. It just means that all we can really do is throw it out there in the void and hope we get some return back on those efforts.  

We look at some of our other events, like concerts, as promotional opportunities to introduce us to new patrons and expand our audiences. So, if a patron comes to see a concert and really likes it and then they see that we're doing a play, that might pique their interest. Then, we hope that they might come back and see that play, like it, and then tell their friends, and so on and so on.  

So, every interaction with a patron is an opportunity to cultivate new audiences and really the biggest driver for promotion is simply word of mouth.

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As the curtain closed to The Receptionist, I couldn’t help thinking that this was one of my personal favorite plays that I have seen this semester.  And it was even better the second time around!