Theatre: Little Y Theatre Company presents David Mamet’s GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS

Shane | 3 December 2012 | Reply

Blue Room Theatre, Perth, Western Australia – 22 November, 2012

Directed by Mark Storen, Featuring Georgia King, Leanne Curran, Ella Hetherington, Alexandra Nell, Sarah McKellar, Verity Softly & Caris Eves

By Shane Pinnegar

Mark Storen has reinterpreted David Mamet’s classic play Glengarry Glen Ross wonderfully, using an all-female cast and remaining true to the Oh So Eighties vibe of the original – so brace yourself for incessantly coarse language, smoking, sexism and the ‘greed is good’ desperation of that decadent decade.

Starting quirkily with a waitress unfolding herself from under a Chinese restaurant trolley to reset each early scene, deliberately and automaton-like, Storen draws parallels with the robot-like autopilot of these underhanded sales people, for whom fleecing the innocent has become second nature, compulsive behaviour.

Everything starts collapsing as contracts and leads for a big real estate investment portfolio are stolen, and the rats run in ever more desperate circles, their greed and guilt showing through the cracks as they break down one by one.

Beautifully showcasing the depth of talent we have on offer in Perth in the arts, the six actresses are all on fire throughout, delivering completely believable performances, even though they retain the original male characters names (a contractual requirement insisted upon by Mamet).

Behind the scenes, Fiona Bruce’s set design and Joe Lui’s lighting are simple to the point of being stark, bold and dramatic.

Director Storen breathes new life into this old work, cramming the original play into an action packed 70 minutes which never slows down for a moment.

Glengarry Glen Ross runs until Saturday 8 December, 2012 – don’t miss it.