Human nature

Ever sneaked onto Gaydar at work and tried to avoid having your colleagues finding out? It’s a practice which has become a part of modern day office life in Australia, and it’s something examined in the Mardi Gras festival play Human Resources.

A trio of half-hour monologues, Human Resources looks at three office workers doing mundane, ordinary jobs and at what’s actually running beneath the surface in these situations.

Blue Mountains-based playwright Chris Aronsten felt it was a topic rarely touched upon in theatre.

I think big emotions happen below the surface in very mundane, ordinary places, he said.

In Brian Meets His Match a pack of office workers all use the same internet dating service. Their obsessive rules of engagement are challenged by the arrival of the new boy, Brian. I

n Dave’s Lunchtime Dos and Don’ts, Steven revels in manipulating a lonely, sexually frustrated, wealthy older man until things go horribly wrong.

And in Fiona’s Functions an ageing box office attendant deals with the encroachment of technology and her seemingly pre-pubescent new boss.

The office workers in Brian Meets His Match use a site called PinkMatch.

People do this in offices, they’re on Gaydar all day, Aronsten said.

They don’t want anyone knowing what they’re doing, but they’re actually lining up sex and all sorts of things while they’re working. It can become very addictive.

I think people get very picky online. There’s this whole gambling element to it as well, where you think, -˜Oh, I could do a bit better. I’ll just keep looking.’ It’s like a food chain.

Aronsten, who trained at the Australian Film and Television School and is currently working on a feature film script, admitted much of his work was based on his own experiences.

Everyone I work with now is afraid they’re going to end up in something I’ve written, he said.

But people who are lampooned often don’t recognise themselves because they don’t see themselves that way, which is lucky.

Human Resources plays until 25 February at Darlinghurst Theatre, 19 Greenknowe Ave, Potts Point. Prices $28/ 22. Bookings on 8356 9987 or at the Darlinghurst Theatre website.