The trash-talking desperadoes in David Mamet’s plays are nearly always men — and not just any men, but men as human sweat stains, their collective efforts like so much testosterone fogging up the joint.
With this in mind, a grand experiment is playing out at Redtwist Theatre where a revival of “Glengarry Glen Ross” features a coed ensemble, and a rather good one at that. The women have arrived — though only one manages to stake her claim.
Mamet’s camp signed off on the concept, providing there be no script changes. So, on occasion you hear women referring to one another as “he,” or introducing themselves with names like Richard, John or George. It’s not a big deal. Curiously, the female element doesn’t really add or detract from the play itself, which won the Pulitzer in 1984. So you have a couple of saleswomen instead of salesmen pushing shady land deals — so what?
The story doesn’t need to be anything but what it is, and director Adam Webster keeps the focus clear. The men are up to the task, particularly Eric Hoffmann, whose square-jawed cockiness seems just right for the role of Moss — and he has a nice handle on the Mametspeak. The simp who runs the office with a less-than-assured managerial touch is played by Erin Shelton in a strangely dead-eyed performance.
Instead of widening her stance, she’s mostly back on her heels when it hits the fan. Here I think a man might have played it differently — more intent and aggressive, at least.
The trick is capturing Mamet’s momentum and urgency — and his love for cons and squirrelly types. May I offer up Exhibit A: Jacqueline Grandt as the wily Ricky Roma. She gets it all the way, her blond curls aptly reminiscent of Glenn Close in “Fatal Attraction.” You even buy it when she refers to herself as a man. Her charm is smooth like velvet, but this is not a woman to be messed with, walking the walk and duking it out in a man’s world — and stuff it if you can’t take it.
“GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS”
When: Through Aug. 24
Where: Redtwist Theatre, 1044 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.
Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
Tickets: $22-$30 at 773-728-7529 or redtwist.org
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