Enron to a winner

Last week I requested a gilded invitation to see DramSoc’s latest spring term play ENRON before it went on stage. Whilst I did get my invite I didn’t get it on gold leaf coated paper, the stingy gits. In spite of this I went to see the cast perform on Tuesday, with no idea what to expect, despite everything I’d heard about both ENRON the company and ENRON the West End production. As it turned out, I was pretty impressed.

ENRON isn’t a company many people seemed to have heard of, so a brief history lesson may be required. ENRON was a large Texan energy company that went bankrupt in 2001, following a massive scandal that caused ENRON shares to drop like a stone, costing thousands of people their life savings and jobs. The play, originally written by Brit playwright Lucy Prebble, principally revolves around Jeff Skilling, ENRON’s former president, and his role and attitude towards his company’s fall.

As someone who can’t make head or tail of the Financial Times I was a little worried when I sat down to watch. Would this be worth my time, or would I quickly regret my decision not to sit at home and watch paint dry? Thankfully it was the former. Whilst finance does inevitably crop up here or there it’s not the focal point of the play – that would be the interaction and development of the characters. Will de Renzy-Martin captures Skilling’s character perfectly, projecting the image of a driven, unapologetic businessman to great effect. Alongside Skilling stand his business partners, quirky financial officer Andy Fastow (played by Al Norman) and ENRON CEO Ken Lay (Dominic Wood), as well as the fictional female executive Claudia Roe (played by the very non-fictional Grace Surman).

The play is certainly quirky, with ‘two Velociraptor heads with glowing eyes’ and ‘a ventriloquist’s dummy’ being part of the props list. If that wasn’t enough to entice you, an energetic dance number with ENRON traders set to remixed Matrix music should do the trick. The synchronisation between the actors is almost spot on; given another week of practice and it’ll certainly be an audience pleaser.

One initial niggling concern was about the accents; as Skilling first opened his mouth I admit I expected something rather cringe worthy. Those expectations were indeed wrong. Perhaps it was a little unusual hearing such accents to begin with, but none stood out as being absolutely terrible. If anything, by the end of the play some people were sounding far too British.

Once more DramSoc manages to impress. When combined with a proper set, costumes, lights, sounds and visuals I hope that that the first ever amateur production of ENRON will succeed just as well as the company it’s named after.

Well, at least before its bankruptcy...

Enron shows from 7 – 10 March, Union Concert Hall. Tickets are on sale now: £5 students, £7 non-students.