Once upon a time, way back in 1980, there was no World Wide Web, no Nintendo Wii, no GTA of any Roman numeral. State-of-the-art software was chained to primitive, constraining hardware, and video games were so archaic that you had to actually type in written commands to do something as rudimentary as opening a door. Today’s weapons-laden avatars have only to stand before a virtual door armed with the correct, hard-won key, and the thing will magically swing open for them.
Anthony Clarvoe’s Pick Up Ax, now through March 15, 2009 at Pear Avenue Theatre in Mountain View, is set in the Silicon Valley of that ancient era. Thanks to the smart direction of Ray Renati, a clever set by Ron Gasparinetti and very strong performances by all three actors, Pick Up Ax is the best play I’ve seen this year.
As the play opens to the heroic power chords of “Foreplay/Long Time” by Boston, Brian (Ben Fisher) and Keith (Alan Kaiser) are crowded into Brian’s toy- and computer-crammed office. Keith has taken up residence there because he’s filled his office with junk. Keith is the company’s resident savant, the “franchise” as Brian calls him, who can commune all day long with ones and zeros but wilts in the face of contact with other human beings. Brian, who discovered Keith one day in a video-game arcade racking up insanely high scores, is the company’s president. As the stage lights come up he’s on the phone, screaming at a chip supplier who inexplicably refuses to take his money.
The situation that Clarvoe presents to us, as well as much of the subsequent plot that unwinds throughout the rest of the play, mirrors the historical events of those days, when big-time suppliers of key components made sweetheart deals with preferred customers to effectively squeeze smaller players out of business. Indeed, the care Clarvoe has taken to get his facts right is one of the many pleasures of Pick Up Ax, but his play goes far beyond documentary. Despite all the spot-on references to chips and sensors and software, this is a play about how humans work rather than how machines do.
We know Brian, we’ve met lots of people like him before. He’s the guy who had the smarts, skills and personality to rise pretty far in his world, but not all the way to the top. His problem? He cares. He was drawn to Keith not only for his value as a potential meal ticket but also for Keith’s humanity. Somehow, despite being a good guy with laudable instincts, the company that he and Keith founded on a shoestring now employs scores of workers, which is one of the main reasons why Fisher’s Brian is desperate to save their company. It sounds odd to say this at a moment in history when the world’s economies are shuddering from the effects of wanton greed, but you get the feeling that if only Brian had exhibited a bit more self-interest, his company would not be in this predicament. Fisher beautifully captures this toxic mix of healthy ambition and good intentions.