Savage play tugs on the leash
THEATRE
Glengarry Glen Ross
By David Mamet
4 stars
Black Swan State Theatre Company
Heath Ledger Theatre
REVIEW DAVID ZAMPATTI
Once again Kate Cherry and Black Swan show the appetite and aptitude for the late 20th century American theatre canon that made Laughter on the 23rd Floor the hit of their 2014 season.
Glengarry Glen Ross, David Mamet’s hugely influential drama of venality and the despairing criminality it breeds, might not have the irresistible exuberance of Neil Simon’s memoir but it shares its energy and masterful use of language. Cherry’s vigorous, uncomplicated staging, supported by a talented, finely balanced cast, does justice to it in this impressive production.
The simplicity and efficiency of Glengarry Glen Ross is always a surprise (this production runs a tight 80 minutes, and needs no more time than that). The action takes place in a Chinese restaurant (persuasively realised by designer Richard Roberts) and the office of Premier Real Estate where its four salesmen, Ricky Roma (Damian Walshe-Howling), George Arronow (Luke Hewitt), Dave Moss (Kenneth Ransom) and Shelley Levene (Peter Rowsthorn, in a dark reprise of his 23rd Floor triumph) work.
Or rather fight, tooth and claw, for the chance to delude the “leads” their manager, John Williamson (Will O’Mahony), gives them into believing investing in property developments in Glen Ross, Arizona, and Glengarry Highlands, Florida, is a panacea for their financial ills and, somehow, even their spiritual emptiness.
As the play starts, Premier’s unseen owners have thrown a bone and a stick into this dog-eat-dog world. A sales contest with a Cadillac Eldorado for the top dog, survival for the runner-up, and the door for the rest. You can almost hear the baying and the sound of tearing flesh.
It’s impossible to imagine a bleaker place than the one Mamet takes us to.
There’s no kindness, or equity, or honesty here. There are no heroes, just the brutal and the pathetic.
The top dog is Ricky, whose moral compass has no poles; we see him work on his latest sucker, James Lingk (Steve Turner), with ruthless charm, while the other salesmen founder with weak leads and even weaker spiels.
Even Williamson can’t escape the blood and bone of this pit. He knows every sale his men make is theft and every word they say is a lie so he is as unscrupulous and culpable as they are.
And as vulnerable. Like all the rest, Williamson’s downfall is one slip away. When he makes it, Ricky rips at him and the desperate, flailing Levene dives into the carcass like a carrion fowl.
In the end, none of them, not even Ricky, have anything of value to bring to the table, and people they have no access to control their lives.
Glengarry Glen Ross was written during the rise of Reaganomics, and, if anything, the undergrowth of the corporate jungle Mamet’s men inhabit has become even more treacherous and unforgiving.
As the Glengarrys are being bulldozed back into the Everglades and the Glen Rosses are abandoned to the rattlesnakes and tumbleweed, Mamet’s harsh cry has more resonance than ever, especially in a revival of this quality.
Glengarry Glen Ross runs until June 14.
Glengarry Glen Ross
By David Mamet
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