Office Games
From: Wednesday, 23rd April 2003
To: Sunday, 25 May 2003
Our Review: 
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Synopsis
Against the backdrop of peace negotiations after the Great War, we are taken behind the scenes at the Foreign Office. Overseen by the imperious Charles Raven, the men in his office engage in "office games" of petty one-upmanship and bullying, mostly at the expense of their meek and fervently religious colleague Wilkes. This simmering boredom is alleviated when Raven's is "carpeted" over a missing "O" in an important cabinet briefing. When blame for this unforgivable error is shifted to the typist Rose Browne, she attempts to keep her job using the only methods she feels are available to her. Blackmail, adultery and suspected espionage ensue and the innocent horseplay that makes up all their office lives threatens to turn very nasty. Office Games evokes a time when honour and loyalty to one's country were paramount, class distinctions were embedded in the national psyche...and it was career suicide to get involved with a girl from the typing pool!
Our Review:
28 April 2003
As the show’s programme tells us, not all of World War One’s conflict ended in 1916, and as things calmed down at home, the British Foreign Office turned its attention to the territorial tension between Turkey and Greece. It is against this political backdrop that writer Trevor Baxter sets Office Games, which eavesdrops the smaller-scale politics taking place between seven members of the Foreign Office.
Some misinformation in a cabinet briefing gets the imperious Charles Raven ([Richard O’Callaghan]) into trouble, and the blame is put on Rose (Charlie Brooks) from the typing pool. Keen to keep her job, Rose uses her most powerful weapon, her sexuality, to win Mr Raven over. But it seems that he should be keeping a closer eye on his subordinates, who not only spend far too much of their time in petty but damaging rivalry, but who also have designs on disrupting Mr Raven’s name and career.
Guy Retallak’s production has echoes of his recent success...
Creative
Trevor Baxter (Author)
Bill Kenwright (Producer)
Guy Retallack (Director)
Christopher Richardson (Design)
Douglas Kuhrt (Lighting)
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