Steadstyle Chicago
	July 2008 Theatre Review by Ruth Smerling
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Check out the hottest broadway tickets from Gotickets.com Glengarry Glen Ross Critical Evaluation: **** out of **** The Red Twist Theatre, without changing a word, has added even greater impact to David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize winning "Glengarry Glen Ross".  Instead of having an all male cast, Red Twist has ingeniously enlisted an elite group of ultra-female actresses to play some of the male roles as women.  You just have to see it, it’s surreal, hypnotic and at times on the edge of the seat frightening.  The key to making a Mamet work audience-friendly is to use an insightful director.  Adam Webster came up with the idea of using the female cast members in non-traditional roles by accident.  When the work was first being contemplated, at a script-reading it dawned on him that “the workforce is changing, sure, gender, race and age wise and while we are no longer supposed to verbally acknowledge gender, the differences inherently remain.”  He found  that “male-exclusive dominion of Mamet’s salesmen and the workplace we now find ourselves in, women are high powered execs, but still playing by men’s rules.”  "Glengarry Glen Ross" is a startling look at a group of ruthless real estate salesmen who will do anything to sell property.  The story opens in a dimly lit bar.  Shelly “The Machine” Levene (Brian Parry) is begging the office manager of his realty company, John Williamson (Erin Shelton), to give him some good leads so he can make a sale and get back on his feet.  Williamson plays by the rules and only gives the leads to the successful salesmen.  Finally Levene persuades him to 9 Csell” him a lead, but when he cannot come up with enough cash, he’s turned down.  The rest of the company is equally disgruntled.  George Aaranow (Debra Rodkin) and Dave Moss (Eric Hoffmann) have taken heavy losses this year as well.  Moss is so angry he suggests they stage a burglary, steal all the leads and sell them to another realtor.  Aaranow tries to reason with him, reminding him that he’s contemplating a felony.  But Moss only scares the hell out of him,  informing him that he’s already an accomplice because he listened.  Ricky Roma (Jacqueline Grandt) is the top salesman in the company.  He feels the pressure to succeed just lie his coworkers, but manages to prosper anyway.  He can sell snowballs to Eskimos.  He can make a potential client believe that buying one of his properties is the one thing missing in their lives and not buying would be leave a void that could never be filled.  Roma will lie, steal and misrepresent himself if he thinks he can close a deal.  A few leads later, Shelly Levene enters with a signed contract, only to find that the office has been ransacked and the police are investigating the crime, questioning everyone individually.  During the investigation, James Lingk, Ricky Roma’s latest patsy wants his money back, stating that legally he has a three day window for a full refund.  Roma tries to slip out, only to be clamped down by John Williamson he intervenes and ruins everything.  Sleazy, criminal and sinister, "Glengarry Glen Ross" is enough to make glad to be a renter or certainly wonder if you paid too much for your house.  The ensemble does a great job creating the split personalities at work in a criminal mind.  The space at the Red Twist is intimate enough to feel the terror these unfeeling dynamos wreak on their co-workers, easy marks and the made of stone office manager, John Williamson.   Director Adam Webster evokes a can of worms and puts them back where they belong with the help of the well known ensemble doing some of their best work today.  "Glengarry Glen Ross" has been extended through August 31, 2008 at the Redtwist Theatre, 1044 W. Bryn Mawr.  Phone 773-RAV-PLAY for tickets and information or visit www.redtwist.org.   About Ruth Smerling Ruth Smerling began work as an entertainment writer while attending the prestigious University of Illinois School of Communications.  She persuaded the school paper to assign her to review the film "Get Shorty," starring John Travolta.  Unfortunately her work was a little too brutal for the UIC paper and that was also her last assignment.  Nevertheless, the need to write and communicate could not be extinguished and fortunately her reviews received a warm welcome by the Editor-In-Chief of College News, Daphne Robinson who named her the Reel Goddess from 1993 to 2003.  Ruth covered film festivals all over the North America and interviewed countless movie stars, directors and authors.  Meeting the French Director Bertrand Tavernier at the Chicago Film Festival was the turning point in her movie reviewing experience.  He presented a brilliant film called "It All Starts Today".  He explained that she loved his films so much because American films are enjoyable, but must sell as much popcorn and Coca-Cola as they do tickets.  Since 2003 Ruth has been submitting controversial and thought provoking reviews to Theatreworld Internet Magazine and is pleased to report that people around the world send her e-mails inquiring about Chicago theatre, actors, directors and productions underway.  Ruth is delighted to be part of the Steadstyle website and looks forward to a long and happy association.