Performance Review: "the kind of funny that ruins funerals"
14 Mar 2025 - Photos by Dahlia Katz

We are crammed into communal seating at Morning Parade Coffee Bar, enjoying a coffee and in my case a salted chocolate chip cookie, when Performance Review begins. A barista begins clearing tables and her engaging smile and light banter quickly creates a spotlight aura around her. Yes, it is Rosamund Small and she wears a genuine welcoming grin that is not only that of a long-suffering server but also that of a canny actress. The smile is a mask but it is composed of inner reality. As Performance Review kicks into gear, we learn how the two are fused.

Small recounts her experiences with seven stints of employment. We know there are many more because of her involvement with Sisters and Genesis & Other Stories, Small is a veteran. The saga begins with her very first job at a Second Cup, hence the setting. Small's eagerness and innocence is achingly, hilariously, portrayed and she strikes to the heart of how a job, no matter how menial, becomes a purpose. And in her case a way to keep living. Yes, this character has dark depths that, no matter how sunnily and humorously presented, are disturbing. She is a huge success, caring is her superpower, at the Cup and bafflingly, to her, acquires a big tipping regular. A man in a puffy coat whose tips on a caramel latte grow increasingly outlandish. Fortunately she is naïve enough, lucky enough, dedicated to her job enough, to avoid a terrible fate.

As she progresses through the seven jobs—including stints as a writing room assistant, an internship at a successful indie theatre, a non-hierarchal media theatre collective, and as a writer on a television drama about a horse sanctuary—we feel her excitement as she begins. Laugh uproariously as she learns the ropes and discovers the underbelly. Catch our breath as the inevitable micro-aggressions, that escalate in some cases to literal aggression, lead to termination. Small is indomitable and, after a brief bout of self-doubt and potential self-harm, is on to the next challenge. It is a tricky balance of the heartily comic, Small has the timing and irresistible appeal of a top-notch comedian, and the dark reality of what it is like to be dependent on others for a livelihood. And in particular how the demands can go beyond the job description and into the realm of assault. A giddy bit of joking about anal and a mousy girlfriend escalates into a madcap frenzy, before Small pulls it up short and makes us realize at whose expense we have been rolling in the aisles. She walks the knife edge of blaming herself and being afraid to stand up for herself with a sweet puzzlement. They are experiences that while unique to Small, resonate with everyone. And uncomfortably with every woman.

Small was undoubtedly over-qualified for any of her writing jobs, Performance Review is meticulously constructed while never stinting on the laughs. All of the threads and symbols pull together in final moment of empowerment that is cathartic and comic. I would have loved for Performance Review to end there, leaving us in a state of satisfaction, relief and triumph but, as Small says, "when writing about your own life, people still give you notes." This is Small's life and as what came before was so wonderful, I'll swallow my notes about the epilogue. Small roams about the cafe and the ingenious set by Anahita Dehbonehie (A Public Reading of an Unpublished Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney, English, Hand to God) not only supplies multiple playing spaces, but is also packed with sleight of hand surprise props that emphasize the jokes, the horror, and in a couple of cases, the theatricality. The sparse subtle sound design by Heidi Chan (A Public Reading of an Unpublished Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney) is filled with effective underlining and the occasional gag. The site specificity melds with the design overlay to create a hyper-theatrical yet hyper-realistic atmosphere that is cozy, familiar, and erases any gulf of empathy towards Small.

It is impossible to tell where Small's creativity has been guided by director and Outside the March artistic director Mitchell Cushman (A Public Reading of an Unpublished Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney, No Save Points, Lessons in Temperament, The Tape Escape, Hand to God, The Flick, Dr Silver A Celebration of Life, Mr Burns A Post-Electric Play) but their collaboration creates a seamless staging that flows effortlessly from comedy to drama, from narrative to intimate confidences. At one point Small refers to "the kind of funny that ruins funerals," and that is the dark hilarious terrain that Performance Review traverses. We laugh because it is hilarious, and we laugh in empathy. And we laugh in horror. When Small quips that "I don't buy a lot of clothes because my last job was 'playwright.'" it is a subtle punchline but it also packs a punch. When Small reads us her resume she created at 18, the one that landed (with the help of a recommendation) her the Second Cup gig, she gently mocks the naivety and bravado. After Performance Review, one believes that that 18-year-old was sadly underestimating herself. As we initially underestimated the woman bussing our table.