Television and film star Alex Dimitriades takes to the stage in a revival of David Mamet’s undisputed modern masterpiece Glengarry Glen Ross, directed by Alkinos Tsilimidos. Thirty years since its debut, this dramatic portrayal of earning a buck in a ruthless world is just as bold today as it was back then. A timely play for our post-GFC battered world.
Real estate is a competitive game and these Chicago salesmen live to close the deal. They’ll do whatever it takes. But the market is drying up and the guys at head office are cutting back. So, this month a new twist has been added to the sales competition. First prize is a Cadillac, second prize is a set of steak knives, and third prize is … you’re fired. This explosive yet ultimately humane play exposes the greedy underbelly of corporate capitalism.
Melbourne-based filmmaker Alkinos Tsilimidos returns to the company after making his MTC debut with Red in 2012 and directing The Mountaintop in 2013. Described as one of Australia’s most important contemporary film directors, his gritty, socially observant films include Everynight…Everynight, Silent Partner, and Em 4 Jay. In 2004 his feature film Tom White was released to critical acclaim, receiving thirty-one Australian film award nominations including Best Director and Best Film. In 2010 Alkinos released his fifth feature, Blind Company.
David Mamet won the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Glengarry Glen Ross. He is an American playwright, essayist, screenwriter and film director. Mamet has written a number of iconic plays including Boston Marriage, American Buffalo, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Oleanna, Speed-the-Plow, and Edmond. As a screenwriter, he wrote two classic satires – State and Main, about Hollywood, and Wag the Dog, about politics – but his main body of work concentrates on the male worlds of hardboiled criminals, confidence men and cops with films such as The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Verdict, House of Games, The Untouchables, Things Change, Homicide, The Edge, The Spanish Prisoner and Heist.
Glengarry Glen Ross opens Thursday 10 July at Southbank Theatre, The Sumner.