Army of One
Street-poet Johnny Song's skint. Poetry isn’t paying. Depressed and demoralised, he bites the bullet and takes a lowly clerical job. Life perks up when he discovers an army of clerks secretly pursuing their art in the nooks and crannies of office buildings across the Square Mile. His joy at joining this clandestine movement is tempered by the increasingly authoritarian office management techniques used against them. Singled out, Johnny faces an ultimatum – act as a (well remunerated) informant weeding out miscreants…or leave. Accepting the offer, Johnny becomes a model employee. Perhaps too good, because recruitment and retention become something of a problem. What management don’t know, is that Johnny is behind a whole new, highly secretive movement sweeping through offices throughout the country...
Army of One explores the sometimes painful choices we have to make to live our lives outside the mainstream and pursue our dreams and ambitions. It asks the question; are young people today abandoning their hopes and aspirations simply in order to secure a job and survive? Are young people today being encouraged to conform and not question? To keep their heads down and not rock the boat?
Dan: Okay, Johnny, listen up. Management wanna play Big Brother with us, we play Che Guevara with them. We’re a small outfit, but we’re flexible, dedicated and mean as fuck when it comes to messing with fascist management. Fourth floor; cleaning cupboard, smells a bit and it’s small but can do six at a squeeze. Third floor; stationery supplies, again cramped, but light and airy, oh word of warning, 5 mins max in there, you never know’s who gonna come in for a biro. Second floor; electrical storage cupboard, very popular choice, it’s big and no one know what the fuck its for. First floor; disabled toilets, self-explanatory really. We’ll give you a Room Booking Schedule. Familiarize yourself with it and then destroy it. Any questions?
