Surviving Office Politics With ‘Focus Group, A Focus Group’ (Review)
Audience agency muddles NoMads Art Collective’s otherwise engaging roleplaying-infused show
I despise office surveys. They provide false hope that change can occur in the future based on employee recommendations but can also be weaponized as a tool for management to suss out troublemakers. So in preparing to see Nomad Art Collective’s debut immersive show Focus Group, A Focus Group, I found myself begrudgingly filling out the first survey I’ve taken in over a decade, filled with the kinds of corporate growth questions I hate, like rating from one to five on how good I think my boss is at their job. How are you supposed to not put down “five, being the best” on a named survey for such a question?
With my survey filled out online and submitted, I receive an email with the address for where the focus group will be happening. Upon arriving at the converted storefront address, I immediately feel like a guinea pig about to enter an experiment created solely for a corporation’s needs. I’m greeted by tables draped in black cloth, with a podium closing off the “U” shape formed by the tables, bland and sterilizing in its attempting to be a welcoming and laid back work function. Almost the entirety of the northern wall is covered in mirrors, seeding the feeling that you’re being watched by someone, someone whose sole purpose is figuring out how to use you for the corporation’s benefit.
As the other audience members and I mill about before the “focus group” begins, I mingle with members of “The Company” running the group, spending most of my time with their lawyer Brooks (Enrique Retana) attempting to make paper cranes. I welcome the chance to slack off, making me realize how easily I can find myself doing the most trivial task, in lieu of focusing on what’s important. Once done assembling my deformed paper crane, we’re lead in a discussion about our survey responses by Beverly (Danielle B. Szabo), who’s cagey about her role at The Company. She asks the audience what we do and we all provide details and thoughts on what jobs we have in real life.
Just as I’m beginning to wonder where this is all going, Chuck (Scott Jackoway) rushes in, stops the group, and whisks Beverly away. In that time, The Company’s employees begin to happily whisper their concerns about recent mass layoffs from the new CEO who seems directionless. It’s a familiar song and dance I’ve heard at any water cooler and the execution is pitch perfect. The performer I’m speaking with could be exchanged for any of my day job coworkers, and I feel myself performing a workplace caricature of myself that’s completely boring.
With things seemingly settled upon return, Chuck informs the audience he’s now the new CEO; but he also happens to be at odds with his sister Beverly on how things should be run at The Company. He begins sorting the room into opposite sides by making a statement like “Come to this side of the room if you would rather have unrestricted internet access or the other if you’d like freedom to use the bathroom whenever,” quickly and easily dividing the audience’s thoughts on workplace policies. Brooks, who’s suspiciously not involved in the “this or that” game, storms outside. Out of all the audience members, only I followed him, leaving behind everyone else to vote on whether it should be Chuck or Beverly who should take over the duties of CEO moving forward. Brooks, who appears to be close to me as his crane-making pal, drops a bombshell, changing the entire dynamic of what was happening with this focus group, cementing my belief that the “welcomed” opinions of employees means little to their bosses.
With this revelation from Brooks, I realized my core frustration with Focus Group, A Focus Group. The role of the audience was never clear nor was it clear the level of agency we had. I believed I was attending a faux focus group where we’d express our thoughts on our jobs but it seemed that the role of the audience was to be employees at The Company. Yet, once I thought I figured out my role as an employee, I’d then be asked to express personal real life work opinions, then go back again to having a personal stake in The Company. It didn’t help that there was no onboarding process, including contact guidelines, leaving me unsure and forced to walk on eggshells with each person and performer in the show as to the amount of physical touch that was appropriate.
Yet while the audience agency issue hindered roleplaying, it did not prevent the audience I was with from getting into a passionate discussion about dynamics. During the “this or that” game, I easily found myself on the side of the room that encapsulated a more traditional, rigid office style. It was eye-opening to watch everyone else, regardless of age, sex, or race, oscillate on what they preferred and thought was the better option such as free roam of the internet or freedom to use the restroom whenever needed. It was fascinating to watch how the audience members would seemingly forget they were part of a show, electing to have an honest discussion about the best aspects of different office and management styles.
Additionally, the interactions I had with the performers in Focus Group, A Focus Group were exciting and engaging. The performers’ focus and improvisation skills were top notch, engaging fully in conversation when it went off-topic and seamlessly getting back on track without it feeling forced. The attitude and tone they set made the audience at ease, allowing for honest discussions between strangers to occur and be productive, which is no small feat. I can’t remember the last time in speaking with a stranger that I thought the conversation was so rewarding.
While I floundered in the opaque audience agency of the experience, I truly did enjoy my time surviving office politics with the other employees of The Company. Filled with the natural growing pains of any first immersive outing, NoMad Art Collective’s Focus Group, A Focus Group displays a true understanding on how to authentically engage and provide a rewarding experience for its audience. Whether they choose to remount Focus Group, A Focus Group or try something new, I look forward to seeing what NoMad Art Collective does next.
Focus Group, A Focus Group has closed its run.
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