THEATRE
At Adelphia Studios Chapel St Fitzroy, until June 1994
Reviewer: Kate Herbert around 13 May 1994
This review was published in The Melbourne Times after 13 May 1994
Glengarry Glen Ross has all the trademarks of David Mamet, not the least of which is scads of "F....ing".
G.G. Ross crawls inside the hole of real estate salesmen during the last week of a sales competition. The winner gets a Cadillac, the second gets steak knives and the other two get fired. Needless to say they are cut-throat, frantic, stressed and ready to do anything including stealing the "leads" which will get them the requisite sales.
This is a challenging script handled admirably by director Wayne Pearn. The dialogue is difficult, riddled with scattered thoughts, broken sentences, overlapping, swearing and colloquialisms. The pacing is crucial and some of the actors handled it well.
The characters are unremittingly ghastly jerks. There is the hapless and desperate Levene, the smarmy office manager, Williamson and an inarticulate wimp, Aaranow and the abrasive Moss: all credible and appropriately irksome.
The magnetic performance was from Ben Shaw as the fast-talking Ricky Roma, the top salesman with the deadly charm of a cobra.
The rhythms are frenetic, the relationships intense and the atmosphere fraught. These guys are desperate to win. "Never open your mouth till you know the shot." Translation: "Make sure you know which lie to tell."
If you've never seen Mamet, get a look at this.
By Kate Herbert
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