By Megan Tench, Boston Globe November 21, 2008

The playwright has raced from his home in New York to watch his dark comedy "The Receptionist" take shape at Providence's Trinity Repertory Company.

And he recently learned that just 50 miles up the road, the Apollinaire Theatre Company has launched another office-based play, his Obie Award-winning "The Thugs," at Chelsea Theatre Works, running through Nov. 30.

"I don't really know the guys doing it, but I heard it was happening, which is great," he says by phone. "And to have Trinity doing 'The Receptionist,' it is really a big deal to me."

The Canadian-born Bock, 47, lived in Rhode Island for 11 years after studying playwriting at Brown University under the acclaimed Paula Vogel. Little known at the time, the aspiring writer once worked at Trinity Rep as public relations associate.

"I basically Xeroxed things and put press packets together," Bock says, laughing.

The prospect of actually getting one of his shows staged there was a far-fetched dream. And to have this particular show at Trinity Rep is especially thrilling because the woman who helped inspire it, Janice Duclos, is playing the lead role.

"I had her in mind when I was writing the play," he says. "She is so unbelievably funny and good. And now she's doing it, which is amazing."

Working as a receptionist at one point, Bock wanted to write a play for a woman about a cheery receptionist who counsels her co-workers and delightfully answers the phones. But the play slowly shifts, becoming a mystery that takes dark and unexpected turns.

A receptionist, Bock points out, is arguably both the most powerful and the most powerless person in an office. She knows when to turn on the charm and when to get tough.

"She knows everything that's going on, but she's still just the secretary," Bock says. "She talks to the boss one way, to the guy walking through the door another way, to the guy she doesn't want there or to co-workers another way. Everybody comes to her for information, but in the play there's a twist - which I don't want to reveal." "The Receptionist" runs at Trinity Rep Dec. 5 through Jan. 11.

As for "The Thugs," inspiration for the play came when he was working at a temp agency.

"I heard what it was like for them to do temp work," he says. "They are easily discarded or they find themselves in a space that had some kind of disaster. I wanted to write about how scary it is to be in that sort of limbo. To not have any idea who is coming and going or who is on this floor. If you are prone to terror, that's an easy way to get scared."

The hour-long "Thugs" focuses on temps employed by a law firm in a high-rise building. The workers are given to paranoia, and rumors spread of murder.

" 'The Thugs' did really well," says Bock. "I'm proud of it." A writer since the moment he could put pen to paper, Bock wasn't always enchanted by life in the theater. About 20 years ago he gave up on the stage.

"It had something to do with a show - we couldn't swear or something. I don't know, I was discouraged," he says.

Bock, who is openly gay, worked with gay civil-rights groups and began working on Christmas shows for the gay community. He felt pulled back to the theater, he says, after discovering how valuable his voice is as a gay playwright.

"It's weird how entire communities are wiped out," he explains. "Stories where gay people don't even exist, or where there are no black people or no Hispanic people - that's odd to me. I kind of see playwriting as showing the world as we see it. As we live it."

Things have been going so well for Bock that he's now able to make a living through playwriting alone - no more office work. He feels as if he's finally made it.

"I think the 'making it' is probably getting the chance to write another one," he says. "I get enough productions to live on, that's great. I made it. I mean, Eugene Lee is designing the set for 'The Receptionist.' Eugene Lee, that's incredible. Recently, I got to do a reading with [actress] Lois Smith. . . . . It's an exciting life."

Information for "The Thugs": 617-887-2336, www.apollinairetheatre.com .
Information for "The Receptionist": 401-351-4242, www.trinityrep.com .