Review by: Paul Towers, 16-May-19
Enron by Lucy Prebble
A Curve & DeMontfort University co-production
Curve 15 – 18th May 2019
“a depiction of corporate greed and avarice.”
Enron is the story, warning of what can go wrong when
corporate companies are given free reign with few regulations.
Back in the 90’s Enron was a moderately successful company
supplying gas to Texans. As the millennium approached and deregulation freed it
from Government scrutiny it spread its influence into electricity, natural gas,
pulp, paper and communications, hoping to ride along the burgeoning broadband
industry. To finance all this expansion it used some very creative accounting
methods to wildly over value the company. Complicit in this long term financial
fraud were the management, auditors and accountants all of whom ultimately paid
the price with jail sentences.
Lucy Prebble’s play, a major hit in London’s West End fared
less well on Broadway and can be likened to The Wolf Of Wall Street in its
depiction of corporate greed and avarice. This production is part of the
continuing nurturing of talent at DeMontfort University that Curve has been committed
to for the last decade.
The ambitious set, designed by Kate Unwin, of four levels
created with steel poles provides the many rooms needed. It is draped underneath
with lots of wires further illustrating the technology at the heart of Enron.
TV screens around the upper perimeter show rolling financial reports from stock
exchanges and periodically snap to live TV broadcasts of events.
The large talented cast of students performed with alacrity in
a variety of costumes.
This production is directed by Jonathan Martin who has
gathered around him a talented crew including sound designer Dave Norton and
lighting designer Jonny Laidlow.
Enron is at Curve until Saturday 18th May
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