Enron play flops in US as art imitates life
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.It may still be one of the hottest tickets in London's West End, but on Broadway Enron, the play, has proved a financial disaster and is to close after just 15 performances.
Lucy Prebble's show about the collapse of the American energy company, whose bankruptcy in 2001 shocked the business world, was hobbled at birth by a bad review in the all-powerful New York Times, and finished off by the Tony Awards nominating committee, which confined it to minor categories.
The curtain will fall for the final time at the Broadhurst Theatre on Sunday. The American cast was told the news on Tuesday, hours after Enron failed to get a nod for best play. It was nominated for four Tonys, including for best featured actor and best original score.
British audiences have lapped up the hyper-kinetic take on the fall of Enron, once one of the most respected companies in the US, but which hid its collapsing fortunes through a web of complex frauds.
The tale is vivaciously told through song and dance, and visual metaphor, including the depiction of accounting tricks as businessmen with raptor heads and the Lehman Brothers as a pair of conjoined twins. Written by Ms Prebble and directed by Rupert Goold, the play received ecstatic reviews at the Minerva Theatre in Chichester, before transferring first to the Royal Court and then to the West End, where its sell-out run has now been extended into August.
The Broadway show was given a big marketing push amid high hopes it would repeat its success on this side of the Atlantic, but while it received many good reviews, Ben Brantley of The New York Times called it a "flashy but laboured economics lesson" that was "all show and little substance".
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments