Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The latest revival of Glengarry Glen Ross has been packing the Palace Theatre, but David Mamet\u2019s classic about a cut-throat Chicago estate agency elicits varying reactions. Is it a period piece from another dog-eat-dog era (1983, to be precise), or is its demonstration of macho American hucksterism more relevant than ever? Then there are the debates over who \u201cdoes\u201d Mamet\u2019s hard-charging argot best among the starry salesmen: Kieran Culkin, fresh from an Academy Award win; Bob Odenkirk of Better Call Saul; comedy veteran Michael McKean; or Bill Burr, with his stand-up timing.It turns out that the rhythms of Mamet\u2019s strivers, angling for leads deviously and desperately, remain riveting, and their shamelessness still entertains and exasperates. But in Patrick Marber\u2019s subtly syncopated production, and on Scott Pask\u2019s roomy sets, these men are also cut down to size. Their tragic grandiosity seeps away, their petty villainy \u2014 selling worthless tracts in Florida to gullible hobbyist investors \u2014 no longer morbidly fascinating. They feel like small-time crooks, not exactly harmless, but somehow contained \u2014 an intriguing framing that does not feel like an accident or mis-step.The play\u2019s first act deploys three separate dialogues in a Chinese restaurant, a hang-out that resembles an old-school club or lounge. These are small marvels of persuasion and essentially seduction, albeit beginning with failure: has-been Shelley Levene (Odenkirk) wheedles to the staff supervisor, Williamson (Donald Webber Jr, effortlessly authoritative), for better leads on clients, raising a finger to quell interruptions and attempt to control the flow. Then comes the next generation: Dave Moss (Burr) outrageously pitching an office break-in to old-timer George Aaronow (McKean, working wonders with hesitation); and leading realtor Richard Roma (Culkin), sidling up to a stranger and potential mark, Lingk (John Pirruccello), with existential musings, then segueing to a pitch as if it had just occurred to him.Here and in act two \u2014 set in their soulless office, post-break-in and mid-investigation by a detective \u2014 the production\u2019s strong suit lies in its two melodic lines. One is Mamet\u2019s verbal knife-fights, still a star attraction: the way Levene, Roma and Moss circle and wear down one another in profane bids to hold the floor and assert dominance, every exchange a battle mirroring the war on the monthly sales board. But part of Marber\u2019s direction is also to find ways of switching up rhythms, and that\u2019s where a sense of melancholy comes in, like Odenkirk getting a swing in his step with a sale, only to deflate again when his redemption evaporates, or McKean\u2019s \u201cso this is still my life\u201d haplessness, clinging to him like stale cigarette smoke.That\u2019s the mood that sticks with you more than the sheer force many still know from the 1992 film and other revivals. This hour-and-45-minute production, with intermission and blackouts, has a way of resisting momentum and inviting reflection. Culkin, who was perhaps cast for the weaselly insouciance of his Roman Roy in Succession, tends towards a wilier, softer version of the con here, more bluff than bluster. The generational succession of young gun Roma over Levene also feels subdued, fostering a sense that, really, none of them are going anywhere.It\u2019s certainly still possible to enjoy this production as the stars playing the hits, Mamet as classic rock. (We\u2019re now more years removed from the play\u2019s debut than that debut was from one obvious precursor, Death of a Salesman.) But in the age of the real-estate-developer-turned-reality-show-star presidency, the \u201cmanosphere\u201d and Mamet\u2019s own Maga-adjacent proclivities, one appreciates this variation on what has become a kind of dramaturgical lad bible. One might even treat Mamet\u2019s rage warriors as quaint \u2014 relics of the past, one hopes, someday.\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606To June 28, glengarryonbroadway.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The latest revival of Glengarry Glen Ross has been packing the Palace Theatre, but David Mamet\u2019s classic about a cut-throat Chicago estate agency elicits varying reactions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":269730,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-269729","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269729"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":269731,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269729\/revisions\/269731"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}