‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ at The Players’ Ring

It’s during the third scene of Act I of “Glengarry Glen Ross” that the audience meets Richard Roma, a successful Chicago real estate agent played here by G. Matthew Gaskell. He’s in a city park with a man named James Lingk (Richard Harris), half-drunk and occasionally swilling from a bottle in a brown paper bag. Lingk sits wordlessly on a bench and listens while Roma embarks on a sprawling philosophical monologue, extolling the virtues of an adventurous, risk-taking life.

“When you die, you’re going to regret the things you didn’t do,” he says.

Only after his rambling but captivating soliloquy does Roma introduce himself and reveal his true intentions: He hopes to persuade Lingk to take a risk on purchasing some undesirable real estate in Florida, at a place called Glengarry Highlands.

Roma’s speech, full of cynicism and vulgarity, illustrates the environment of competitive self-interest that saturates David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize winning 1982 play. Like the story’s other three real estate agents, Roma’s personal code of ethics defies legality and basic human decency, but perhaps reflects the creeds that drive American capitalism.

Roma’s been on a hot streak at the company where he works, but the same cannot be said of his three colleagues. Veteran agent Shelly “The Machine” Levene (Will MacDonald) hasn’t made a big sale in recent memory. George Aaranow (Jamie Bradley) has also been down on his luck, and he lacks the self esteem to do better. Loudmouth Dave Moss (Scott Caple) is also desperate for a turn of fortune.

The four main characters are competing to save their jobs and earn a Cadillac bonus from company owners Mitch and Murray. They’re united only by their mutual loathing of rigid office manager John Williamson (Matthew Boyer), who is responsible for distributing the daily “leads” for potential property buyers.

Director Matthew Schofield and stage manager Robin Fowler have done a remarkable job of adapting Mamet’s Broadway hit to the snug confines of The Players’ Ring in Portsmouth. All scenes except the one in the park take place within a sparse office set around a single table. Here, MacDonald, Gaskell, Bradley and Caple take turns ranting, shouting and swearing (this play should be rated R for vulgarity), exorcising their mounting stress and desperation.

The lead actors are a pleasure to watch, even when their moral digressions are at their most stomach turning. Levene turns red in the face as he airs his frustration and seeks a return to his glory days. Roma exudes self-assured arrogance as he smooth-talks his real estate victims, waiting until the client is out of earshot before unleashing his verbal tirades. Aaranow stammers comically as Moss tries to bully him into a plot to break into the office and sell all the leads to a competitor. 

The second act begins the morning after the first, when the agents individually arrive at the office to find it ransacked. A police detective (Todd Hunter) is on hand to investigate the robbery. As he interrogates each suspect, the audience learns that these characters are just as willing to swindle each other as they are their clients. To paraphrase Roma, life is a carnival, and the only ethical dictate is self-reliance.

“Glengarry Glen Ross” will be at The Players Ring through March 28. Show times are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m. Tickets are $12 for the general public or $10 for members, with $2 discounts for students and seniors. The Players’ Ring is at 105 Marcy St., Portsmouth, 603-436-8123.