Theatre Review: ENRON

ENRON- The Play (www.enrontheplay.com)

At the Noel Coward Theatre until Saturday 14th August 2010

Tickets from £12.50-£50.50, £25 seats released daily at 10am

Written by: HANNAH MARSHALL

Pouring over the theatre listings in The Independent last Saturday (in a slightly desperate attempt to get out of watching my mother squeal like a fourteen year old over Olly Murs at the X-factor live tour) I wasn’t sure if ENRON was the play for me. For one thing, I’ve never decided to compose songs about the stock market, or dressed up as a businessman with a large plastic animal head for that matter. I’ve (sadly) never fought anyone with a green lightsaber, and as you can probably guess I’m not the CEO of a multinational energy corporation who keeps a pet dinosaur in my underground office.

Like me, you probably wouldn’t expect all of these things to happen in a play about accountancy. But that’s one of the things that makes ENRON so brilliant. The staging is awesome, if you’re a fan of awesome lighting effects, crazy symbolism (hence the plastic animal heads) and cleverly constructed sets then make sure you visit the Noel Coward Theatre before the season comes to an end.

Inspired by one of the most infamous financial scandals in history ENRON follows the story of Andy Fastow’s heady attempts to conquer the stock market using the somewhat illegal methods in order to please his idol, Jeffry Skilling. Also trying to manipulate her way to the top of the company is the shrewd and spoilt female executive Claudia Roe. As the action unfolds and the implications of their actions on those around them become clear, all three must resolve their own conflicts of power vs. morality.

Lucy Prebble, does a fantastic job of making the ENRON financial scandal completely entertaining, I was on the edge of my seat, especially as the company’s tortured genius turned slimy capitalist CEO, Jeffry Skilling, (played wonderfully by Samuel West) rages at the stock market screen as he watches his share prices crumble.

ENRON is a play about greed; the characters are motivated by a mixture of self-interest and a lust for power. The relationships that they formulate are empty and based on the potential for personal gain. Whilst this could lead to a slightly hollow and unsatisfying theatre experience (I prefer my heroes in love and my endings happy!) the shy brilliance of Tom Goodman-Hill’s Andy Fastow and his childlike awe at the system that he creates redeems the play’s emotional centre.

The show has some great lines, made even greater by the worrying reflection of the unremorseful mentality of the show’s protagonist in big business and governments of today. Okay, so “This is where you belong” is a place for people who want something different, but ENRON’s final line highlights the worrying fixation that seems to drive the majority of our society today.

“All these things make up our humanity, there’s love, faith, greed and lust, and the greatest of these? Is money.”