Parachute Productions presents David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross
Stage 1 Drama students have continued their exploration into American Drama and the associated theme of toxic masculinity. In October, they laid bare assumptions and busted notions attached to the American Dream in scenes from Glengarry Glen Ross, by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright David Mamet on Wednesday 27 October in the Prince Philip Theatre.Packing a punch with this performance, the incredibly talented ensemble cast of Angus Porter, Shae Olsson-Jones, Matthew Adams, Leith Johnson, Sam Read, Hugo Walker-Mizgalski with Patrick Femia leading the design and technical work. The boys excelled in the execution of this challenging satirical comedy.
The story follows two days in the lives of four desperate Chicago real estate agents involved in a competition to be top of the sales board. The winner gets a Cadillac, while the loser gets fired! The play is charged with underlying tension which drives the action and dictates the interactions of the characters in their workspace, Premiere Properties. Unethical illegal acts which Premiere Properties specialise in involve lies, bribery, threats, intimidation and burglary to sell their useless real estate.
Memorable moments from the production included Moss (Shae Olsson-Jones) trapping Aaronow (Sam Read) at the Chinese restaurant into his plan to rob the office of the premium Glengarry leads; top man Ricky Roma (Angus Porter) scamming James Lingk (Hugo Walker-Mizgalski) to wait out the extra days for the sale to go through and Shelley Levene (Matthew Adams) caught out in his crime during the climax of the play, who then resorts to bribery of an unmovable Williamson (Leith Johnson) to absolve him of his dire offence.
Throughout the production period the ensemble and tech crew worked tirelessly on designing their scenes, developing their character nuances and on perfecting their comical timing. They were challenged by Mamet’s fragmented dialogue, his preference for broken syntax and use of nonsensical language. Throughout their process, the class participated in acting workshops with industry professionals and former actors including director David Mealor and Cole Thomas. They extended their acting prowess and deeply explored the given circumstances of their scenes using Meisner acting techniques to extract the believability in their performance.
This production played to a select audience of invited guests, who witnessed the genuine triumph of raw talent amongst the Year 11 cohort. This is another giant step forward in the Performing Arts program at PAC. Congratulations Stage 1 Drama!
Rebecca Hassam
Senior Drama Teacher
