A Strategic Plan (Griffin Theatre Company)

Meet Andrew, a former musician who's just landed himself his first "real" full-time job: co-CEO at not-for-profit music organisation STACCATO. He immediately sets about plotting to get young people to really engage with music again, get them pumping like the old days when sweat condensed on the ceiling of dingy bars and dripped down upon the crowd. Unhappily for him, the managing board apparently didn't jive with the "music is our motivation" bit on STACCATO's annual plan.

A Strategic Plan is writer Ross Mueller's satirical revenge on bureaucracy, regulation and the soul-crushing burden modern society places upon the creative soul. The idealistic Andrew gets instantly bogged down in a sea of corporate stereotypes, babbling about gridlocked schedules and budget allocations. Predictably, things don't go well.

Unfortunately, the enthusiastic and talented cast aren't given much to work with here. Dialogue is stilted and often clunky, muddied further by gratuitous levels of jargon and constant heated exchanges where participants shout over each other, drowning entire conversations out. With no chance to breathe between the high stress scenes, the audience's nerves end up as frayed as Andrew's by the end.

Hidden in A Strategic Plan is an intensely relatable story about contemporary corporate and social pressures and the life-changing power of music and art. It's a shame that too often it gets lost in the noise.

Griffin Theatre Company presents A Strategic Plan, to 11 Mar.