NHTC’s Glengarry Glen Ross is timely again

Next for New Haven Theater Company:

Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, May 13-23. 118 Court St. 877-208-6812, newhaventheatercompany.com

David Mamet’s sharp-tongued Glengarry Glen Ross, about struggling real estate salesmen in Chicago, seems as timely as ever. Revived by the New Haven Theater Company at 118 Court St., after a run in Bridgeport, the play suits urban landscapes losing businesses, where buildings sit empty. First staged in 1982, the play eloquently evokes the anxieties of downsizing and unfair competitive advantages, and the great fear of slumps and bad streaks in the world of selling — the life’s blood of American capitalism.

Seeing the play, as I did, on the evening of the day Wall Street took its historic nosedive (the Dow Jones dropped by as much as 1,000 points) only makes one appreciate all the more Mamet’s compelling grasp of the poetry and the perils of the “win at any cost” mentality of the successful broker, whether of real estate or of something less tangible. It’s easy to see that more than personal careers are riding on such efforts — as fares the foot soldier, so fares the war.

The “soldiers” in this case are Rick Roma (J. Kevin Smith), the best in the firm, at present, because of his gift for pointed gab; by sussing his mark’s insecurities, he’s able to entertain, enlighten and entrap his way to a sale; then there’s Shelly Levene (George Kulp), a senior figure who can’t seem to close the deals the way he once could; he’s full of guff about the glory days and how it was done, but is the most insecure now that his best is probably behind him; Dave Moss (Christian Shaboo) is the middling guy — no great past, no great future; aggressive enough to make a living by selling, barely, but with no finesse, he blames his failures on the company bosses — the unseen Mitch and Murray — and schemes to get back at them by stealing the best leads to sell to a competitor; George Aaronow (Mat Young) is the bottom feeder, too dull-witted to be really desperate, but maybe easily manipulated enough to be made an accomplice in Moss’s scheme. Finally, there’s the office manager, John Williamson (Steve Scarpa), a cold, unsmiling character with no charm beyond the fact that he wears the best suit and is impeccably groomed; he’s the go-between to Mitch and Murray and distributes the leads — like fate, he is cursed and propitiated alternately.

Directed by T. Paul Lowry, this great ensemble piece used the intimate space to reveal how much selling and buying, like theater, is based on performing, on reading with psychological insight, and on using language expressively and tactically — the right line, the right reading, can be the difference between success and failure.

The readings by the troupe were spot on: Smith’s effusive Roma and Kulp’s faltering Levene were the best paired in terms of characters with layers to reveal; Young gave Aaronow comic lights that kept him from being as pathetic as he might be; Scarpa’s Williamson was doggedly flinty, more an abused boss than an abusive one; Shaboo’s Moss was young and wiry as a street tough looking for an angle; but as James Lingk, a sadsack roped in by Roma, Erich Greene went for a bit too much broad comedy in his panicked departure from the office.

The dumbshow opening introduced the characters through musical tags, via radio choices, but set a lightness of tone, more suitable to a sitcom, that jarred with the play itself. Once Mamet’s characters started talking, the tone was quickly dispelled. The play’s humor comes from seeing human foibles tellingly displayed, and the main actors — Smith, Kulp, and Scarpa are veterans of a previous NHTC production — knowingly kept the right serio-comic edge throughout.

The show runs in Norwalk on May 13-16 and May 20-23 (Thur.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 7 p.m. 31 S. Main St. $15. newhaventheatercompany.com) while another New Haven Theater show, Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, sets up in New Haven at 118 Crown St. (see box).

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Bennett  - Nice Work     |2010-05-19 14:03:54 Donald, nicely done, as always. Reply 1   0

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