This immersive theatre piece by New York company Dutch Kills Theater is a strangely familiar experience for office-based workers. The drama unfolds in a small container outside Assembly Gardens, where the attention to detail is astounding. Assigned a desk strewn with Post-it notes upon arrival, the nature of your job is disturbingly unclear. The company deal with mortality and retirement, and you (their newest employee) are told to fill out spreadsheets with life expectancies and whether employees are marked ‘active’ or ‘deceased’. The show has moments of humour, but the overwhelming feeling is existential malaise, making participants question the mundanity of most forms of labour. 

Throughout, information is parsed out in a variety of ways. Emails appear on your computer, voicemails on your phone and, most intriguingly, messages are printed out telling you how much someone is ‘thinking of you’. The piece breaks its realistic hold only occasionally, effectively hammering home its existential themes. To give away more would be to spoil the experience, and part of the fun is the interactivity.  

Some immersive theatre has the problem of giving the audience an illusion of choice while working through typical storytelling constraints. Temping mostly side-steps this issue by having a light touch plot that is heavy on thematic meaning. If it provided a more defined narrative or had multiple story threads, then it might offer a more satisfying experience come the show’s end. However, the s immersive approach is where Temping succeeds best, allowing its existential message to wash over participants.  

Assembly George Square Studios, until 28 August, times vary (eight performances a day).