Enron
The rise and fall of energy giant Enron, in digestible form.
Overview
Enron is an epic play that covers an epic true story the rise and fall of American energy giant Enron Corporation, which went bankrupt in 2001. British playwright Lucy Prebble has turned the tale into a comedy, but a pretty depressing one. The judiciously placed direct-to-audience narrations purport that Enron was not an aberration but the birth of modern business. The play is anti-capitalist, but in a soothing way. Aside from a few angry outbursts, it tells the story as a history lesson.
This production at the New Theatre, directed by Louise Fischer, is generally entertaining, with the portrayal of the Lehman Brothers as sycophantic twins by Gareth Cruikshank and David Todd stealing the show. They embody one side of the confidence cycle that allowed Enron to succeed for as long as it did. Cassandra Lee-Heschl playing Claudia gives a poised explanation of this phenomenon, using the analogy of an aeroplane that will only fly if all the passengers believe it will. As soon as one person has a doubt, it will crash. Heschl is a strong performer with a good Southern accent and the rare ability to wear an insanely short skirt with dignity.
Prebble uses a number of symbolic devices to explain the confusing world of finance. Chief financial officer Andy Fastow (Nick Curnow) describes the smaller companies created to consume Enron's debt as Raptors, which are played as masked, winged creatures by Lisa Fletcher, Jorjia Gillis and Paige Leacey. Their deterioration from debt-hungry to chronically ill is a clear, humorous hook for the audience to hold on to as things get complicated.
Sound designer Mehran Mortezaei and costume designer Virág Dózsa haven’t quite managed to bring back the glorious '90s in full force, but watching Peter Flett dance to La Bouche's 'Sweet Dreams' during a set change was very wonderful.
Enron's demise is satisfying to watch, as its story is one of just retribution. But this is not the message Prebble would have us walk away with. In the final sequence, the cast stands as a chorus and explains that as long as businesses are savvy to regulatory loop holes and ensure that they are too big to fail, they won't. It’s an entertaining depiction of an unwieldy and gloomy topic.
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