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REVIEW: LOADER #26
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Load warriors
"Loader #26" is a tight, well-made short play about conflict in the workplace between a skilled worker and the supervisor who has to enforce a company policy that undercuts his self-respect.
By JOSHUA TANZER
Offoffoff.com
You wouldn't think it's a big deal if Buddy uses loader #26 or loader #7, but then you're not Buddy. Buddy's the top forklift operator at Damco, and he knows everything about loader #26, which he uses every day, including maximum loads and torque and weight center and horsepower and plenty more. When supervisor Al informs him that Damco headquarters has ordered him to rotate the loaders, Buddy loses it.
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"Come on, Al, this policy is for the assholes in retail. You can't just take a man's rig without warning him," he tells his boss. "I oil each spring under that seat for maximum comfort. I have the pedals adjusted to require the least amount of effort to lift and break. Now that makes me a productive and efficient employee. Do you know that? Does Damco know that?"
The third character in this escalating workplace war is Guy, the second-best forklift operator and an easygoing guy who wants to defuse the argument and get back to work before someone calls security and there's a major incident. Besides being a peacemaker, he's the shop oddball and provides some of the play's funniest lines.
"Loader #26" is short at just 35 minutes, but it's a perfect one-act — tight, smart, fast-developing and to the point. The point is to illustrate how a worker in even an ordinary warehouse job develops expertise in his field, and the employee's struggle to maintain a little bit of control over his work conditions. Yet, the company policy is being implemented by an employee every bit as real as the worker who's affected, and it's up to us to consider how the workplace can accommodate the people who work within it.
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AUGUST 14, 2001
OFFOFFOFF.COM • THE GUIDE TO ALTERNATIVE NEW YORK
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