By Carol Davis
LA JOLLA, California–Forget the good. Mamet deals in the bad and the ugly. In his Glengarry Glen Ross now in a fast paced production at the La Jolla Playhouse with Christopher Ashley directing, real estate is the name and the real politics of real estate is the game.Anyone in sales knows that a deal isn’t final until the signature is on the bottom line, the check in the bank and the commission is paid out. Forget the handshake. It isn’t worth a tinker’s damn. Oh, it might be a feel good moment, but as any top salesperson will confess it’s the ABC of the sales world. A-Always, B-Be, C-Closing!
It’s an ugly world that Mamet creates and Mamet’s desperate characters don’t fare any better. With Shelly (Peter Maloney), Dave (James Sutorius), George (Ray Anthony Thomas) and Richard/Rick (Manu Narayan) all vying for the same Cadillac Eldorado grand prize and with management in the form of John Williamson (Johnny Wu) assigning the prize parcels of leads, it’s a cutthroat environment for selling real estate in Chicago 1983.
Glengarry Glen Ross is David Mamet’s 1984 Pulitzer Prize winning entre to the political scene following his successful 1975 American Buffalo, and it ain’t pretty. And neither are any of the characters we get to meet. Luckily the ones we do see get to say all they need to say in a little over 85 minutes. It’s like a cacophony of music as the rat-tat-tat word play that Mamet is known for; he who speaks the fastest and yields the least to the other scores most points.
Take Shelly for example. He the oldest of the salesmen in the run-down office headed by John. He’s trying to convince his boss that all he needs are some good leads. For at least 15 min, (“Listen!” “Listen!” “Listen!”) John doesn’t get a word in edgewise.
In the first half of the show, we first meet up with them in ‘their restaurant’ of choice, a Chinese one, which from the duct tape holding tears in the faux leather seats together, is about as over-the-hill as is our Shelly. He’s had a run of bad luck and pleads that the leads he’s gotten are lousy, that’s why he’s so far behind in closing the deals. What he needs are the Glengarry leads consisting of index cards with names and phone numbers of potential customers. One or two will give him the break he needs. Todd Rosenthal’s set design is perfectly appointed with (yet another) fish tank in the background.
Then there’s Dave. He’s so fed up with sagging sales that he drops a stink bomb to both Shelly and mild mannered George that someone should break into the office and steal the Glengarry leads, sell them off to their competitors, Mitch and Murray (we don’t see them), former colleagues who have started their own businesses, and wash their hands clean of the deal while sticking it to John.
In the meantime Rick, so far the most successful of the four is on his way to closing a deal with the clueless Lingk (Jeff Marlow). Lingk has no idea what hit him when he met up with Roma in the same restaurant. Manu’s Rick is a so smooth at closing the deal it’s almost sacrilegious to watch him take this poor chump to the cleaners.
George is the quiet, less showy of the four who meanders without a plan. He’s in and out not really adding much to the conversation except to show astonishment at Dave’s plan. But is he willing to follow through and steal to get some needed cash?
The second half of the show takes us to the now ransacked office where someone did, in fact, break in. On the surface it seems like business as usual with the added character of Baylen (Matt MacNelly) the detective investigating the break in. Shelly is flying high because he finally landed a deal with a check, Rick is on top because Lingk fell (or maybe not) for his pitch and George is shaken by his interview with Baylen. And so it goes.
For their part the skilled cast, along with Ashley’s direction, keeps the action at an almost tennis match pace (especially in the first half) mostly by showing only two of the men talking in each scene. When we transition to the office it’s more of the same with several of the characters either coming into the office or leaving the office or going into the bosses office to be questioned by Baylen. It’s a rarity to see all actors in one place at the same time. That said there are some top notch and winning performances among the talented ensemble.
James Sutorius’ Dave, always on solid ground, gives a sterling performance and then disappears. His convincing proposition at the top of the play with his two colleagues (one we see one we don’t) is enough to set things in motion. Manu Narayan’s Rick, as mentioned earlier, is cool, calm and collected. There is a reason for his being at the top of his game. He exudes confidence self control and poise as he cons the unwitting James Lingk to buy into what he is selling.
And then there is the ever-desperate fallen star, Shelly. Peter Maloney serves Shelly well making a case for his sinking sales over and over and over again, at times throwing in his sick daughter, agreeing to under-the table bribes while trying to convince his boss who has lost interest, inclination and incentive to give him one more lead. It’s a bitter sweet performance he gives; one that makes you want to root for him on the one hand and slap him for whining on the other. But such was the dog-eat-dog atmosphere (as it is today) in the then sinking real estate market.
Jeff Marlow plays James Lingk with just the right confusion and John Williamson’s Johnny has all the cool needed to play referee to a bunch of back-stabbing harried men all vying for the same crumbs.
Glengarry Glen Ross has Mamet’s signature obscenities, contemptible attitudes, verbal assaults, below-the-belt digs, savage accusations, and overriding dark humor but don’t let that get in the way of fun night at the theatre.
See you at the theatre.
Dates: through Oct. 21st
Organization: La Jolla Playhouse
Phone: 858-550-1010
Production Type: Drama
Where: 2910 La Jolla Village Drive, La Jolla
Ticket Prices: $15.00-$69.00
Web: lajollaplayhouse.org
Venue: Potiker Theatre
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Davis is a San Diego-based theatre critic. She may be contacted at carol.davis@sdjewishworld.com