Harmony is a 21st century company. Their recruitment methods raise a number of ethical questions, for they make extensive use of social media to assist them in the selection of employees.
“Harmony” is also the title of a one-act play which deals with this contentious subject.
The Culture Vulture and his wife had the pleasure of attending a performance of this powerful short play on Saturday evening in Ronda (Málaga).
This obra de teatro was performed by La Pequeña Compañia del Proyecto Platea in their intimate theatre studio Sala Puerta Amarilla in Calle Bulerías in the San Rafael barrio of Ronda.
As you enter this dramatic space, the atmosphere is already set. Two mysterious figures, both dressed in white, hover around the stark set, tablets in hand. Partly ushers, partly characters in the play, actress Nieves Rodríguez and the play’s director, Marcos Marcell, are there to set the scene against a soundtrack about “Harmony”, the company in question. It is clear that Marcos and Nieves are not to be addressed for they are “in character” and behaving in a somewhat sinister manner.
The set is minimalist, a white table, two chairs, a laptop computer and a white envelope. This is the interview room, the setting for this 35-minute-long piece.
We first see the interviewer dressed in a white suit and played by Charo Carrasco. She leaves the stage and the interviewee, dressed in a conventional black suit, played by Ana Belén Sánchez, enters and, facing the audience, checks her face, hair and clothing in an imaginary mirror. A very effective touch.
The interviewer re-enters, invites the candidate to sit and to present her case for getting the job. Clearly put out by this unconventional start to the proceedings, the candidate proceeds to regurgitate her curriculum vitae. She is stopped abruptly.
“No need. I can read and have read your CV.”
The candidate, clearly off her stride, then starts to describe the company, intending, presumably, then to say why she is the ideal person to fill the position.
This is also not to the interviewer’s taste.
As the interview proceeds the extremely strident interviewer informs the candidate that they have used social media extensively as part of their selection process. Text posts and pictures.
We learn that the candidate’s father died of cancer, that her mother suffered severe depression, that the candidate cheated on her long-standing partner and that she has been unemployed for months – all this purely from what the candidate has posted on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the like.
The company even used facial recognition techniques on her photos to learn more about the candidate, who by now is getting hysterical. Her protestations that this is invasion of her privacy fall on deaf ears. After all, as the smug interviewer points out, all this information is in the public domain, posted voluntarily by the candidate.
On the table is also an envelope containing a job offer and details of the salary. The candidate is invited to open it. She does so and her face registers shock. The salary offered is apparently risible. Deductions have been made for her transgressions, as discovered on social media.
With that the candidate flees the room, hysterical. The play ends. Point made and very well. And very shocking.
This was a consummate performance; pacy with crisp dialogue and extremely thought-provoking. The three actresses are amateurs, yet director Marcos Marcell, a professional actor and director, has coaxed performances of an extremely high professional standard from these three “local girls”.
Brilliant! Well done!
Coming soon:
Look out for their next production “Novias” on 6/7 December at the same venue, Sala Puerta Amarilla. Tickets are available at Intersport Cary on Carrer Espinel in Ronda.
The Culture Vulture writes:
I’ve seen this brilliantly funny play set in a bridal shop twice before. In the patio of El Convento in Ronda and in the open air in the village of Atajate (Málaga). I shall be going again next month. I’m intrigued to see this play in the small intimate space at Sala Puerta Amarilla.