No need to hedge bets: Enron is a guaranteed hit

Lucy Prebble’s new play gives a fictionalised account of the largest corporate bankruptcy in the history of the world; but you don’t have to know anything about how the market works to enjoy her satire on capitalism, bull market excesses, and insatiable greed.
Rupert Goold’s production, never short on energy, and excitingly designed by Anthony Ward, gives the drama a highly theatrical and exhilarating polish. There are some brilliant imaginative touches. Raptors (out of Jurassic Park) are used to represent the shadow companies which are erected to hide the mounting debt. The Lehman brothers are acted as if they were Siamese twins in a vaudeville double-act. Meanwhile, the traders losing millions are choreographed by Scott Ambler in an orgy of speculation and babble of bids.
Samuel West, looking nothing like Samuel West, plays the ambitious, over-reaching Enron president, a man of ideas, who is indicted on 36 separate accounts of fraud and insider dealings and sentenced to 24 years’ imprisonment. “I am not a bad man,” he claims. “I just wanted to change the world.” West’s reptilian figure becomes surprisingly tragic. Tom Goodman Hill is very funny as his grovelling sidekick, a master at disguising the gap between perception and reality, especially when he is on a running mat. Tim Piggott-Smith and Amanda Drew are well cast as chairman and his chief executive.
I don’t have to hedge my bets. The Royal Court has a big hit on its hands. Its West End transfer is already guaranteed. Enron is hugely entertaining and is clearly going to travel the world.
The Mysteries
TRAFALGAR STUDIOS
This African Bible version of the Chester mystery plays, from the Creation to the Resurrection, is a mixture of the original medieval text and several other languages including Xhosa, Tswana, Afrikaans and Zulu. Pauline Malefane, a distinguished black (and female) South African opera singer, is cast as God and Jesus, which might surprise audiences. Lucifer is also played by a black actress. Malefane has authority and compassion and she is the linchpin of the production.
Ninety-eight per cent of South Africans are Christian and you can see and hear the sheer joy that faith brings to this cast. Mark DornfordMay’s production, simple yet sophisticated, threadbare yet colourful, is inventive and witty in its improvisation. A bale of hay is Bethlehem. A ladder serves for a cross. Water poured into a bucket from a watering can is a delightful symbol for the 40 days and nights of rain. I was somewhat bemused to overhear an elderly white couple complaining that the mixture of languages made it difficult to follow the story.
Othello
TRAFALGAR STUDIOS 1
It is a cliché that every comedian dreams of playing Hamlet; but, as far as I know, no comedian ever has. Lenny Henry has never appeared in a modern play, let alone one by Shakespeare. His career has been a solo act for the last 32 years. And here he is in his straight stage debut playing one of the longest and most demanding roles in the canon. Even Ira Aldridge, the great black American tragedian of the 19th century and a highly experienced Shakespearean actor, did not act Othello in London until eight years after his London debut. When you therefore consider Henry’s total lack of straight acting experience, his performance is, without any condescension whatsoever, amazing. He has a massive presence and commands the stage completely. Conrad Nelson is an excellent Iago.
The Shawshank Redemption WYNDHAMʼS THEATRE There was a time when films used to be based on plays. Nowadays it is, more often than not, the other way round. In recent years the West End has seen productions of The Graduate, The Postman Always Rings Twice, A Matter of Life and Death, Rain Man, Gone with the Wind and, most recently, Calendar Girls. But what’s the point? Can a stage version of a classic film ever be as good as the original? I hadn’t seen the film since its release in 1994 and I didn’t watch the DVD until after I had seen the present production. Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman are a hard act to follow. It’s not that the play is bad but that the film is in every way vastly superior; and much more uplifting, too.
Robert Tanitch