Taylorian

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the stage, never getting his hands dirty. (The real Kenneth Lay died before he could be sentenced, protected by his God to the end). The real business is left to characters such as CFO Andy Fastow, an incandescent Ben Ward, who designs a complex system to inflate Enron’s stock price and hide its losses. He worships his boss Jeff Skilling, CEO and mastermind of the Enron experiment, played by a riveting Luca McCormick. Both actors are utterly compelling as mundane men transformed into Masters of the Universe, before the tides turn and they are washed up on the beach, wondering what happened, while Lay smiles for the cameras. This is a cautionary tale that continues to be ignored, but this gifted young cast provided us with a dazzling, dynamic evening that was impossible to ignore. Mr A. J. Richardson

wings, literally and figuratively, is another form of raptor: the corporate lawyer, who arrives to pick over the carcass. In the event, authoritative performances by Oscar Williams and Usman Saad offer moments of reflection as the maelstrom rages, as does George Turner’s troubled analyst, and Ed Ault’s honest security guard. The production is enlivened by a series of assured performances provided by St Helen’s: Nina Suzic, heartbreaking as Skilling’s daughter, to Jahnavi Malkan and Giselle Levy’s avaricious news reporters, who gleefully bring us news of fresh disasters. Olivia Jagielska’s perceptive Claudia Roe is a rare voice of sanity in this powerhouse turned madhouse; certainly, her warnings go unheeded. Not that this is a surprise, when one considers she must contend with Aarin Kundapur Pereira’s beatific Ken Lay, the Chairman of the Board, whose word is law and who glides – and occasionally dances – about

demanding production. Cheryl Clarke deftly orchestrates the actors and the action, from the hedonism of the first act, through Enron’s decline and precipitous fall. This is a play made for scene-stealing. The multi-talented David Auld plays a mean electric guitar and renders a fabulous ventriloquist act. In addition to his corrupt senator (perhaps a tautology), Georgios Kyriakou makes a memorable Arnold Schwarzenegger. There are menacing multiroling analysts/raptors in the form of George Turner, Jacob Rose, and Ravin Abhayawickrama. We feel the highs and lows with Nick Nistorel, Antoni Hawkins, Rien Dattani and Praniv Ahluwalia, who convince us that fortunes can be won and lost in a congested heartbeat. Equally, Chase Cutt, Chaitya Jain, Ruben Sahota, and Vishal Thakar caper nimbly in the upbeat moments, while also conveying the unfolding catastrophe as Enron lurches from one crisis to another. Waiting in the