Reviewer: Gail Sjogren

Anyone who has worked in an office and had to cope with the vagaries and idiosyncrasies of workmates will be able to relate to this gentle and perceptive comedy. Set in the library of a small provincial news-paper, in Alphabetical Order, the scene is one of utter confusion and disarray, but also of warmth and light heartedness. That is, until the arrival of a new assistant librarian, who sets out to bring order into chaos, not only in the workplace but in the private lives of librarian Lucy and her unusual group of co-workers. The results are unexpected, and lead us to wonder whether new methods and technology are necessarily an improvement or a pathway to happiness.

The clever set is highly evocative, so that the audience can almost smell the newsprint and taste the dust. A very talented cast is led by Miranda Donald as Lucy, whose vivacious performance is faultless.

The unprepossessing but very likeable characters on the paper's staff include the bumbling but kind-hearted Geoffrey, played by Trevor Day, and Arnold, the reporter whose stories seem less than gripping, played by David Noga, while Brad Mitchell is well-meaning Wally, a writer who rarely seems to write anything. The play is ideally suited to the intimate atmosphere of the Courthouse Theatre.