CityLife

Enron

Enron
Lowry
October 19, 2010

Enron comes direct from the West End, via Chichester and the Royal Court, with rave reviews and an array of awards trailing in its wake - so expectations were high for its arrival at The Lowry.

The collapse of the American energy giant, once worth 70 billion dollars, may not seem at first the kind of subject matter to make an entertaining evening at the theatre.

However this brilliant evocation of those turbulent times simplifies the complexities of the infamous 1990s corruption scandal which saw Enron become the biggest bankruptcy case in American history.

Written by award-winning Lucy Prebble, who is perhaps best known for her television series Secret Diary Of A Call Girl, this is only her second stage play.

The elements of classical tragedy, hubris and greed, with their ensuing punishment - the ruin of financial empires - are cleverly combined with savage comedy to make a musical version of the downfall of several corporate giants. Although the addition of even more original music would have been appreciated.

This epic work is spectacularly directed by Rupert Goold, an associate director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, who's also won several awards. He's cleverly conceived an entertaining format of song, dance and a stunning array of visual effects to tell this story.

The businesses designed to eat up Enron's debts are symbolised by voracious raptors; the banking Lehman Brothers are seen as Siamese twins; while Arthur Andersen, another casualty, is portrayed as a ventriloquist with dummy. Even the famous Californian powe cuts give rise to a flamboyant Star Wars light sabre routine.

The casting is excellent; particularly Corey Johnson as Enron's chairman Jeffrey Skilling, Paul Chahidi as his side-kick Anthony Fastow and Clive Francis as the founder Kenneth Lay.

However this dazzling spectacle is more than just an entertaining, morality tale of our time. It's a warning that because of human greed this could and probably is still happening somewhere in the world today.

Tweet