Glengarry Glen Ross

In 1984 Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet won the Pulitzer Prize. It is a great piece of writing, harder to play than it may seem. When played to perfection the words spoken by the actor don't seem as if they come from a script, it's too natural.

The performance venue, the Black Rose Piano Bar in Hindley Street is wonderfully atmospheric but too cramped (especially upstairs, where some audience members didn't see a thing).

Director Paul Peers' decision to have his actors perform the play in American-accents is not a good one. An actor should not shy away from use of accents (it is part of their craft), but the director must ask himself or herself, "Is the use of accents integral to the form or meaning of the play or does it distract and setup a world removed from the place where the piece is being performed and the audience it is speaking to?" Peers has also missed subtle opportunities - the pool game as metaphor, the use of the bar, the chance to let the audience feel like an invisible observer on the interactions instead of just shifting from one scene to another.

The actors play their scenes with skill, in particular I must mention the beautiful interaction between Peter Dunn and Dominic Pedlar. Dunn’s character Leuene, sweating profusily, nervous, desperate to hang onto his job, contrasted against Pedlar’s Roma, ice cold, not a drop of sweat, on top of the sales figures completely in control. Top notch acting.

CHRISTIAN GOLDSWORTHY

dB Magazine issue 218 8/3