Glengarry Glen Ross
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London Theatre Direct
Lies. Greed. Corruption. It’s all business as usual for a limited 14 weeks at London’s Playhouse Theatre.
Glengarry Glen Ross is the timeless Mamet drama that spawned the 1992 American classic film directed by Sam Yates. It takes place in Chicago, focusing on four alpha- male salesmen who are willing to go to any length to get real estate sales. It’s a high-stakes, cutthroat competition, with a fight to the end. But how far are they willing to go to close the most deals and get ahead of the other?
Sounds just like a normal day in the office, right? If not you’re either brand new into your job role and trying to be a pleaser (we all have one of those) or you work in an industry that stayed in 1992, or at the very least its offices definitely are not in the likes of Chicago or London! It’s interesting to see the striking comparison of how competitive socialism has hardly moved over the past 25 years, in an ever-growing increasingly thirsty consumerist society, which is probably one of the reasons I was so drawn to watching the production. That and the fact the likes of Christian Slater, Don Warrington and Robert Glenister are amongst some the stars of the show.
So the curtain rises, and we are instantly transported into a Chinese restaurant where we are listening to the salesmen discussing deals, where we stay for the majority. The highlight of the first act for me was the stellar acting which really stood out from all the other aspects of the production. Robert Glenister as Dave Moss and Stanley Townsend as Shelley Levene were of particular note. The acting was incredible, and the characters managed to make the audience feel engaged and made our faces sore from laughing.
In the second act, the storyline began to speed up and there was a lot more interaction with the individual characters' stories and we saw the iconic ransacked office scene. This was a personal highlight of the show for me. The slice of drama we were all looking forward to.
The show itself is worth a visit, even if it is just to see how far the art of salesmanship’s engagement with criminals has moved on, or if it has at all, whilst illustrating the ugliness of 20th-century man who depends on greed and gullibility. For any newcomers to the show, a little research into the storyline would be my advice. The cast was impeccable and did not disappoint which outweighed any minor issues and made it well worth a watch.
I guess that just leaves one final questions, will you always be closing?
Glengarry Glen Ross is booking through the beginning of February 2018, don't miss your chance to land tickets to this fast-paced show.