(L-R) Erin Laugen (Nora), John Hooper (Mike), Jesse Mease (Olive), and Mike Fasso (Phil) in ‘Green Cheese,’ which is at Lab Theater in Tampa, Florida Jan. 9-26. Credit: Photo c/o Anne Griwsold

If you’re not thinking about layoffs in 2025, then count your lucky stars. Tough times seem to be a feature of life as of late, and this new work from English and Canadian playwright Guy Newsham doesn’t shy away from bringing the topic onstage.

In “Green Cheese”—directed at Lab by Katie Calahan—Olive, played by Jessie Mease, has to cut ties with one of two senior employees at her company. One of them is her husband, and the other is her ex-boyfriend and best friend. Olive decides to let a party game make the decision for her.

“I love the humor between the long-term friends, and the vulnerability, that suddenly ramps up into ‘Bringing a knife to cake fight,’” Calahan wrote in a press release. “ This play gives as much insight into the human condition as it offers up in belly laughs.”

Newsham—known for his prolific production of 10-minute plays—was inspired to write this longer piece about honor and power relationships when he was playing Trivial Pursuit with friends online during the pandemic. “Could you ever really be sure someone rolled what they said they rolled if the dice weren’t on camera?,” he asks.

In his play, the characters are competing for absurd stakes. Nothing goes according to plan, and it’s unclear if the cast finds any real answers at all.

Tickets to see “Green Cheese” at Tampa’s Lab Theater Project Thursdays-Saturdays through Jan. 26 are still available and will be available at the discounted price of $25, starting 10 minutes before showtime at the nonprofit company that exclusively produces new works. Readers are invited to submit their own events to Creative Loafing Tampa Bay’s things to do calendar.

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This article appears in Jan 2-8, 2025.