Enron – Lowry Theatre, Salford

Writer: Lucy Prebble

Director: Rupert Goold

Reviewer: Clare Howdon

The Public Reviews Rating:

There surely is not a current play in production that is as timely as Lucy Prebble’s ‘Enron’. Since it’s opening at Chichester’s Minerva Theatre in 2009 through to it’s West End transfer and it’s present national tour, ‘Enron’ is a play which thanks to the countries on-going recession and banking mishaps, will long retain it’s original sparkling appeal.

The play documents the rise and fall of Texan energy giant, ENRON. Based at the companies helm is Jeffrey Skilling, a modern day Macbeth, whose insatiable ambition ultimately leads to his tragic downfall. Skilling, to the public eye is an exceptional leader and businessman, driving the company’s monopoly into new and unchartered areas including video, internet and even the weather. However in reality, Skilling is secretly struggling to keep ‘ENRON’S falling profits under wraps. In a final desperate measure, Skilling turns to his sidekick, Andy Fastow, to create shadow companies to conceal mounting debts, and this is where the company slowly starts to unravel and the Stock Market and ENRON are slowly revealed for what they really are: a series of smoke and mirrors.

At the heart of this play is a fairly complex and often dry subject matter. Unless you read the Financial Times every week or work in the City, a lot of the plot-line may be confusing. However thanks to a script that evokes moments of laughter and tenderness, a fantastic directorial and design concept and a superb cast, this play is both accessible and hugely entertaining.

Rupert Goold has done an excellent job of dramatising the convoluted and tedious areas of this topic and the result is a pulsing and vividly visual experience. Market analysts become a barber shop quarter, whilst The Lehman brothers are represented as Siamese Twins. Plus film buffs will be in their element as both Prebble and Goold litter the piece with filmic references. The funneling of Enron’s debts into shadow companies is personified by masked raptors (with the final line of the 1st half being a direct quote from’ Jurassic Park’) and the ingenious light show to portray the chaos of electricity deregulation in California, which led to a series of power cuts, has more than a dash of the ‘Star Wars’ about it.

However, as well as some very wonderfully creative touches by Goold and an ingenious set design by Anthony Ward, Prebble has also created plausible characters, who are executed to perfection by a 19-strong cast.

Corey Johnson is outstanding as the deluded and ambitious Jeffrey Skilling, and the scenes with his young daughter allow the audience to see the sympathetic human being under the corporate monster guise. Sara Stewart is sexy and sassy as no-nonsense Claudia Roe and Paul Chahidi is un-unnervingly creepy as Andy Fastow.

‘Enron’ is a success, not just because of the timeliness of its production, but also due to its flawless execution. The energy of the actors, coupled with Goold’s thrilling direction makes this play thought provoking, but never at the expense of becoming a chore to watch.