Theatre Guild production of Glengarry Glen Ross --- the review

Ain't free enterprise wonderful?
a review by Eric Jackson

Glengarry Glen Ross
a David Mamet play, Theatre Guild of Ancon production
directed by Bernard Callaghan
produced by Amit Nathani and Rita Banús
Starring Jason Biffis, Jesse Choquette, Francis Icaza, Tony Loew, Joe Maceo, Jose Mezquita, Adrian Scott and Leo Wiznitzer
stage manager Brenda Scott
props Lily Koster
light and sound Billy Foster and Carolyn Morales Flynn
stage construction Rogelio Sánchez
stage art Martanoemí Noriega

There are no heroes in Glengarry Glen Ross. The "nicest" character, Ricky Roma (Jason Biffis), is a totally unscrupulous if charming con man. One of his would-be victims, James Lingk (José Mezquita) might actually be a nice guy, but here we see him somewhere along a continuum from just short of total wimp to nearly absolute chump.

The most miserable character of them all, and my favorite performance even if it was just a bit part, was Blake, played by Jesse Choquette. Being kind of a progressive guy, I oppose discrimination or denigration on the basis of the circumstances of one's birth. And then, the great majority of the world's bastards would rightly object to being lumped in with this character.

Supported by the viciously obsequious John Williamson (Adrian Scott), Blake starts out heaping abuse on Dave Moss (Francis Icaza), George Aaranow (Tony Loew) and Shelly Levene (Leo Wiznitzer), real estate salesmen caught in a cyclical slump and given the worst of leads with which to work. It goes on to the sort of moral collapse that gets people thrown into prison and abused by their fellow inmates for being wimps and snitches. (Leave it to Detective Baylen, played by Joe Maceo, to be the arresting officer.)

Had the public affairs of the world's nations --- countries like Panama and the United States --- not been run by people with morals like these as often and as recently as they have been, and had not abusive creatures affecting the same sorts of air run both the US and Panamanian economies into the ground, this dark satire would not work. But capitalist crises are cyclical, even if human nature isn't particularly so, which is why this early 1980s play about the Chicago real estate business, which was made into a celebrated 1992 Hollywood movie, is so relevant to Panama in 2009.

The Theatre Guild of Ancon is community theater, our English-speaking community's theater since 1950. It includes a sprinkling of veterans who have done their stints as show business professionals and a lot of amateurs. It has been a spawning ground where the careers of a number of internationally known entertainers (Robert Loggia, Rubén Blades, etc.) were hatched. Its productions tend to alternate between those that draw the big crowds for light entertainment and the more demanding works that allow actors to hone their skills.

Glengarry Glen Ross is one of those plays in which actors develop their talent, in this case on humanity's dark side. Because of the profanity and depravity in this work, it's really not recommended for kids. But it's far from pornographic and the adults in our community have every reason to catch this play. Go see it while it's still playing.

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