Review: Guest Reviewer Kym Vaitiekus Shares His Thoughts On GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS

BWW REVIEW: Guest Reviewer Kym Vaitiekus Shares His Thoughts On GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS

Glengarry Glen Ross presents the cutthroat world of real estate sales. The lengths these salesmen go to, to seal the deal, for continued success and to ensure survival. Lies, bribery, burglary and intimidation lead to immoral, illegal and toxic behaviours.

This team of men are told, via vulgar chest beating terms, that the management have declared a "sales contest": The salesman who clears a certain high dollar amount will win a Cadillac, and the two salesmen who perform the worst will be fired.

This takes the men's desperation to the next level in conniving endeavours. Their tools of trade are pumped to the max.

Leven (Mark Langham) tries desperately to regain his past standing as the most successful salesman in the business. He resorts to bragging, flattery, threats and bribery to try to obtain the best sales leads.

Moss (Hannah Raven) suggests that someone should break into their office, steal the good leads, and sell them off. Though Moss pretends at first to be harmlessly thinking out loud, it becomes clear that he really has planned this crime, and that furthermore he wants Aaronow (Andrew Simpson) to commit the break in.

The events that follow reveal the extent these men will go to, to win, to survive.

The stakes are raised and so are the stunts these men commit. Their tools of trade, their instincts and their lack of morals are heightened. We see an exploration into an aspect of a masculine toxic world.

Director Louise Fischer has assembled a fine cast that capture the energy and rowdiness of a dynamic and treacherous work environment. Langham captures the failing Levene with verve and earnest desperation. Raven as Moss commands the stage, cements the role and her performance is compelling. Oliver Burton's Roma is on point as the young gun that uses his smarts and cunning dialogue to hoodwink his clients. Adrian Adam as Lingk nails the despair of someone who has made that disastrous financial mistake. Caroline Levien as Williamson takes on the challenge of gender cross casting with strength and conviction. Simpson's (Aaronow) portrayal of a salesman who tries to maintain integrity is wonderfully captured in the scene where he becomes entangled into illegal proceedings. Meg Shooter has the complex task of taking on the role of a male policeman. Her character seems somewhat on shaky ground and unable to compete with the conviction of the sales team. Her costume seems awkward and not to support her role. Ben Brock as Blake has the daunting task to set the tone of the day as the most extreme example of toxic masculinity in the name of success and domination. His speech is angry and detailed, yet Brock doesn't quite grasp the essence of a man driven by a brutal industry to be the best, he seems somewhat unsure. I wondered about his scope in commanding the scene while he is positioned at the back of the stage.

As an ensemble I feel the characters didn't have the absolute depth and essence of men so desperate to survive. They weren't on that knife edge of life or death, the kind of desperation you see in the eyes of men engulfed with the survival instinct.

Fischer's choice to use cross gender casting is a curious one. There are no director notes in the programme to inform one of her intentions. For me it bought up various responses. Does this choice truly explore the inherent masculinity of the piece? Especially when the roles chosen to be played by females have certain dialogue thrown at them. When a male character is called a c*** and played by a female, does it add value to the Play's intent? Or is it more about exploring the process of acting.

When actors take on a role, they investigate the character and assume certain traits, mannerisms and postures that they feel fit the part. When an actor plays a certain gender I would imagine this alternate casting would add a level of conflict when deciding which mannerisms to select. Do they play those behaviours that apply to the gender of the role or do they use the mannerisms of their own gender?

The women in this piece portray characters who believe: "A man is his job" with conviction. They successfully explore the unethical and deceitful world of sales. This casting does offer interesting perspectives into the masculinity of business, but does it support or explore the original goals of Mamet's writings.

I commend Fischer's choices and enjoyed the exploration.

Tom Bannerman's set is sublime. An impressive design utilizing the theatre space with ingenuity. It fits perfectly into the staging, into the set changes and the feel of both a Chinese restaurant and office space.

Michael Schell's lighting is on point and enhances this superb set and cast. The follow spot for the opening scene didn't quite track the character of Blake. This is somewhat distracting especially when Blake is there to engage and to introduce the audience to the world of a cutthroat, vulgar and deceitful sales team.

If you like the writings of Mamet, this is a fine production to experience his work again. A piece set when brutal masculinity wasn't universally recognised as toxic and updated with 2021 choices.

Photo copyright Chris Lundie

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