By Zachary KidderIt doesn’t take much to evoke the conflict needed to drive a hit melodrama along but with the atrocities of the recent Enron scandal, everything is already in its place--ready to hit home. Lucy Prebble’s Enron is a satirical masterpiece that hinges more so on the side of being dramatically serious crafted around creative interludes that use news story stand ins and choreographed dance moves simulating the daily grind of the greedy stock exchange. Assumably after leaving the Vandivort Theater one may bring into question all past and present dealings with money, however, as far as having purchased the very ticket for this show, this was not a concern for me nor do I consider the expenditure a loss of any kind.
The play had its moments of creative genius, such as the choreographed use of internally lit cubes that could be stood upon when portraying the stock trading scenes. Then there were those times in the play when a great lag would inhibit the believability of the scene, thus unsuspending my belief in the story at hand.
The beginning scene work with Steffany Cambra’s executive character Claudia Roe and R. Tyler Habiger’s Jeffrey Skilling showed the butting of heads between the future CEOs-to-be after their sly relationship. The sexual tension present in their character backgrounds should have proceeded with a very complicated and dicey edge-of-the-knife performance for Claudia but instead this was muddled in her lack of subconscious discovery of her character. She was acting and it distracted my attention not to the the story but to a stream of bitchy intonation in her dialogue that stayed atop a plateau of high volume, rather than exploring its way up to an anger-induced rage. This refusal to feel out her emotions with confidence led to her lack of believability and had a negative impact on her overall performance.
Many more of these instances were seen throughout the show, although not as blatantly as Cambra’s, and led to a breakdown in transparency. Whenever an actor, no matter who they are, refuses to let go 100%, due to both a lack of preparation and discovery, the scene is shot to the ground.
Connor Eastman’s Andy Fastow, CFO of Enron’s illegal shadow company LBJ, had many incredible moments especially with Skilling in the scene in the basement. Here their camaraderie shone as Skilling recognizes another ivy league colleague's genius and Fastow sees to it to schematically increase the company’s illegal profiteering. This is depicted when Fastow feeds business suit-clad raptors dollar bills or the company's “debt.” From here on out, the ship begins to sink leading to a triumphant scene of justice at the end: the prosecution.
Overall Enron was an astounding production with well-placed lighting cues and an incredibly costumed crew that included realistic raptor masks. Many hear about a show like Enron and are attracted to the idea of seeing it so as to participate in a phenomenon that set a scandalous benchmark for the cultural climate we live in. The same effect would attract audiences had it been a satirical play on the truth of 9/11 or the Oklahoma City Bombings. Real art speaks truth in great volume and is the thermometer of our current age. Enron was the mirror to the monster and a must see for all.
