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London Review
London ReviewGlengarry Glen Ross
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You think that you're a thief? So what? You get
befuddled by a middle-class morality. . .? Get shut of it. Shut it out. You cheated on your wife. . .? You did it, live with it. (pause) You fuck little girls, so be it. There's an absolute morality?— Richard Roma
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Jonathan Pryce as Shelly Levene.
(Photo: Johan Persson)
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Who is the most difficult playwright for English actors to pull off? Arguably David Mamet. Where was the world premiere of Glengarry GlenRoss held? In the National Theatre in London in 1983.
Mamet’s play about Florida real estate salesmen comes "home" to London and with a stellar cast of top notch actors, James Macdonald’s production not only pulls it off, it convinces as well as someone who has just sold you a time share. The programme tells us that Mamet had a summer job in a Chicago Real Estate Office in his early twenties, "selling worthless land in Arizona to elderly people" where he would have gathered the ideas for this Chicago set play about salesmen on commission. My editor Elyse Sommer reviewed the play two years ago in New York and her review contains a good summary and detailed descriptions of the scenes which are unchanged in London. Link New York review.
Do we who don’t get our hands dirty have the right to sit in judgment on the unscrupulous tactics used by pressure salesmen? The number one salesman, fast talking and fast thinking, Richard Roma (Aiden Gillen) has just earned a fast car, a Cadillac and a fat bonus. We see him in action when he tries to hang on to a deal where the client Tom Smith (James Lingk) wants to cancel. The number two salesman, a stolid Dave Moss (Matthew Marsh) is scheming how to get someone else to steal the leads, sell them and jump ship to another firm of real estate sales. But it is Jonathan Pryce’s Shelly Levene who captures British hearts with his underdog persona. He is a desperate man battling a system that gives to those that have and for those that have not, there is nothing. But why would you expect American capitalism to reward anything except success? It is the same phenomenon described by Arthur Miller in Death of a Salesman which of course is a metaphor for the death of the American Dream.
As Shelly lists his past successes, the amount of earnings he has made for the company, the much younger office manager John Williamson (Peter McDonald) remains unmoved. Pryce plays desperation very well, smoothing over his unruly grey hair which sticks up as he thinks up another strategy to try to persuade Williamson to trust him with the plum client list. His is a real roller coaster ride in this short but intense play as he pleads for a chance, doesn’t get it, turns nasty but makes a big sale with a duff lead and thinks he has turned the corner. Shelly Levene’s blow by blow account of the impossible sale is a thrilling passage.
Having seen the list of American acting giants who have played these Mamet roles, Pacini and Spacey to name two, you would think that this would be too tall an order for British actors. But this is not allowing for the calibre of Jonathan Pryce, Aiden Gillen and, although in a lesser role, Peter McDonald. In Chicago in 1983 despite age discrimination legislation, Pryce is up against the age thing although he doesn’t complain about the younger salesmen the way Moss and Aaronow (Paul Freeman) do. They are in the toaster and steak knives reward scheme not the Cadillac one! Aiden Gillen as Richard Roma plays with smoothly slick words in his first act scene as he deceptively lines up the mark and doesn’t allow him time to think, let alone join in the conversation and yet in the second act I felt from him a certain sympathy for Shelly’s predicament. Peter McDonald looks younger and fresh but is steely in his determination as the power broker, the doler out of leads.
The audience broke into spontaneous applause when it saw the Second Act set of the burgled office with its grey steel filing cabinets and old fashioned metal desks and enough detail to be an installation by Punchdrunk. Anthony Ward has perfectly captured the era and the state of turmoil after the theft. The booths of the Chinese restaurant Act One set are more limiting. But it isn’t for sets that you will want to see this Mamet play but for the mesmerising pace of the flashy dialogue and the agility of the vocal choreography that actors and director deliver.
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GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS
Written by David Mamet Directed by James Macdonald Starring: Aiden Gillen, Jonathan Pryce, Peter McDonald With: Matthew Marsh, Paul Freeman, Tom Smith, Shane Attwooll Design: Anthony Ward Lighting: Howard Harrison Running time: 1hour 35 minutes with one interval Box Office: 0870 890 1101 Booking to 12th January 2008 Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 12th October 2007 performance at the Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1 (Tube: Piccadilly Circus) |
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