'The Consultant' examines post-recession business life

Playwright Heidi Schreck and director Kip Fagan watch the first rehearsal of "The Consultant" which starts performances at Long Wharf Theatre on Wednesday, Jan. 8. Playwright Heidi Schreck and director Kip Fagan watch the first rehearsal of "The Consultant" which starts performances at Long Wharf Theatre on Wednesday, Jan. 8. Photo: Contributed Photo Photo: Contributed Photo Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close 'The Consultant' examines post-recession business life 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Heidi Schreck's new play "The Consultant" is set in a contemporary New York City office, where everyone's job is hanging by a thread.

The receptionist, Tanya, went to New York University, but spends most of her time informing callers that the people they are trying to reach have been let go.

The central character, Amelia, arrives at Sutton McGrath and Feingold to help one particularly stressed-out employee, Jun Suk, with his presentation skills. But, Amelia quickly gets swept up in the turbulence of downsizing, office hook-ups and self-medicating.

"The Consultant" looks at one advertising company office to get at the bigger picture of working life today.

Along the way, the play pokes fun at a lot of aspects of contemporary New York City, from the putdowns aimed at those who live in Murray Hill, to the way that graduates of the "The Forum" -- 1970s guru Werner Erhard's offshoot of est -- can drive their friends and co-workers crazy with tales of the way their lives have improved after the seminars.

Schreck, who juggles separate careers as an actress and a playwright, said people in her field have always had to live with the anxiety of not knowing where the next job might be coming from, but she is sad to see that in 21st-century America almost everyone is in the same (leaky) boat.

"So many people now are uncertain about building a life," the playwright said of the millennial generation's inability to afford houses, cars, children and the other things that were once thought to be the birthright of middle-class Americans.

"The Consultant" starts performances Wednesday, Jan. 8, at Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, where it is set to run through Feb. 9.

The play is very loosely based on Schreck's own experiences moonlighting in presentation coaching for New York companies.

Schreck agreed that her vision of workplace life is both funny and scary.

"My husband and I have talked about the fact that the way people are living after the financial meltdown is how we've always lived," she said of the constant job insecurity of most people in show business.

"I do think that one of the interesting things that has happened is that the meltdown did give everyone a chance to reexamine their values," she added of an economy which forces people to ask the question, "What do I really care about?"

Schreck is happy to be having the world premiere of "The Consultant" at Long Wharf Theatre, where she has worked as an actress.

"I've had a very long relationship with Gordon Edelstein," she said of the regional theater's artistic director. "We met in Seattle where (Schreck and her husband, the director Kip Fagan) had a theater company in the 1990s. Gordon was artistic director of ACT and he was a huge help to us. He was into our work and excited by it ... he was a mentor to a lot of us.

"Long Wharf was the first place I asked my agent to send the play," she added.

jmeyers@ctpost.com; Twitter: @joesview

Long Wharf Theatre, 222 Sargent Drive, New Haven. Wednesday, Jan. 8-Sunday, Feb. 9, 7 p.m. $54.50. 203-787-4282, www.longwharf.org.