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Enron

Enron
During the recession, Itchy didn't just feel the pinch. Itchy felt a monumental slap! We all did. So, there is some sweet irony in watching a production, based on the fall of the American energy giant Enron that had bankruptcy debts of over £38 bn, become a glowing West End success.

Lucy Prebble's impressive play Enron, now transferred to the Noel Coward Theatre, is a sharp-tongued battle of the bravest that places you right at the heart of the financial action. As Enron moves from not just providing energy but trading it, Pebbles captures perfectly the infectious yuppie euphoria of financial success. Nothing new here, perhaps. However, the true success of Enron is its focus on the rise and fall of an idea and the virtual reality it can create.

enron
The driving force behind this virtual reality is, of course, Rupert Goold's highly innovative staging. Character monologues that offer financial commentary are interspersed with surreal songs, political video documentary and slick-suited choreography. Board members dressed as blind mice open the production amidst a grid of glowing poles that provide an energy framework for the cast. Add into this heady mix blindfolded lawyers, a ventriloquist accountant and his dummy plus flag waving, line dancing cowboy traders and you will be forgiven for being swept along and seduced by this highly inventive production.

Enron
Samuel West gives an electric performance as Jeffrey Skilling, the president of Enron. West captures Skilling's almost casual arrogance and unshakeable belief in the long-term success of his own ideas. He is aptly supported by Tim Pigott-Smith who plays Ken Lay, the owner of Enron and Skilling's office lover and chief rival, Caludia Roe, played with great strength by Amanda Drew.

enron
However, Itchy's personal favourite has to be Tom Goodman- Hill's eager to please Andy Fastow. Fastow, Enron's Chief Financial Officer, remains in the basement of Enron with his raptor dinosaurs, which represent Enron's mistress companies, feeding them on a high-fibre diet of Enron debt. This surreal context aids Tom Goodman- Hill's slightly unhinged approach to the role that, alongside a man who keeps dinosaurs for pets, adds an element of danger.

Perhaps the only downside of Enron is its ending. A production that provides such slick staging throughout almost deserves a big ending. However, perhaps that's Goold's point. With the bleak recession that followed, no one got the big ending. Who cares? Political Theatre just got sexy!

www.enrontheplay.com

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