In an age where a real-estate salesman has assumed the highest political office in the United States, a new revival of David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Glengarry Glen Ross” in London is highlighting the dark side of the art of the deal.
LONDON (Reuters) – In an age where a real-estate salesman has assumed the highest political office in the United States, a new revival of David Mamet&rsquo-s Pulitzer Prize-winning &ldquo-Glengarry Glen Ross&rdquo- in London is highlighting the dark side of the art of the deal.
The play, which first premiered in London&rsquo-s National theater in 1983, charts two days in the life of a group of desperate Chicago real estate salesmen and chronicles the moral compromises they are willing to make in order to make a sale.
For director Sam Yates, whose London revival stars Hollywood actor Christian Slater, the play is an examination of how language is used to control people — which Yates thinks hits home in the current political climate.
&ldquo-We have a president in the United States who cut his teeth selling real estate in the 80s,&rdquo- the director told Reuters.
&ldquo-The way language is used by these guys in the play, there&rsquo-s certainly many, many echoes with how you see Trump buying for time or covering up hugely lack of understanding or pushing something or selling something.&rdquo-
The 1992 film version featured a bravura monologue of sinister masculinity from Alec Baldwin, who won an Emmy this year for his menacing Trump impersonation.
The workplace bullying on display in the play also strikes a chord at a time when Hollywood is experiencing its own scandals of sexual harassment and abuse.
Kevin Spacey, who played an abusive boss in the &ldquo-Glengarry&rdquo- film, was fired last week by Netflix from its hit show &ldquo-House of Cards&rdquo- after a number of allegations of sexual misconduct.
Slater, who is returning to the London stage more than a decade after an acclaimed run in &ldquo-One Flew Over the Cuckoo&rsquo-s Nest&rdquo-, told Reuters that for too long Hollywood has been &ldquo-sweeping so many things under the carpet and living with these hush-hush little secrets, that everybody kind of knows about but doesn&rsquo-t really want to do anything about.&rdquo-
&ldquo-That era has to come to an end, women and men have to feel comfortable in the workplace, and in every place,&rdquo- he said.
&ldquo-And this sort of behavior of taking advantage and manipulating people, that&rsquo-s over.&rdquo-
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