ENRON
By Lucy Prebble
“Are you smart?”
Hello and welcome to this proposal of ENRON by Lucy Prebble by
Hamish Ellis and Robyn Park. Should this proposal be successful we are
looking for a DSM and a Producer to join our production team.
Who are we?
Hi, I’m Hamish and I am proposing to
direct ENRON. I have been involved in
SuTCo since I came to Sheffield. I was
lighting op for Equus and soon became
part of the committee as Lighting
Technician. Towards the end of that
first semester I worked on the SUPAS
production of Guys and Dolls, where I
met Robyn. I then went on to Lighting
Design for A Dream Play and Stage
Manage/DSM Brontë. Over summer of 2012, I was Technical Manager
for Somebody’s Theatre, taking Built for Two to the Fringe. In my second
year I Stage Managed Frankenstein and Production Managed the 24
Hour Charity Musical at the Crucible. I also designed the lights for A
Clockwork Orange. I have been involved in tech for many years and as a
result, have worked with a large number of different directors on all types
of show. This experience, I feel, gives me the knowledge and ability to
direct for the first time.
Hiya! I am Robyn; I am a second year
Speech and Language Therapy student. I
have a bit of tech experience which I hope
will come in useful. This year I have been a
Tech Officer for SuTCo, Head of Tech for
the newly formed company Funny You
Should Ask and Production Manager for the
SUPAS production of FAME. All in all this
has led me to be involved in some technical
capacity in 12 shows this academic year,
admittedly ranging in difficulty.
Before coming to university, I Production Managed several shows in a
theatre back home and on and off for the last year, I have worked at the
Novello Theatre in the West End on shows such as Derren Brown’s:
Svengali and Mamma Mia.
As well as this, I am quite organised in terms of shows (anyone who has
seen my flat knows that this is not the case in my general life but luckily
we are proposing a show, not my life so everything is fine!) I can’t really
describe my organisation skills, so it is probably best to ask the people I
have previously worked with! In my gap year, I worked as a Personal
Assistant to the Artistic Director and Company Manager of a theatre for
a year- he was the world’s most disorganised person so that was no
easy task.
I am a bit of a control freak and like to have everything planned
significantly in advance of its “deadline” to relieve stress which I think
works well in terms of being on a production team!
Why us?
Between us, we have lots of experience in the drama studio and also a
very good friendship. We worked together on Frankenstein as Stage
Manager/Tech Officer which went very well. We both have good
relationships with Scott and Eddie and very much understand the
requirements of a SuTCo show and what needs to happen to get it on
stage.
ENRON
Enron was written in 2009 and tells the story of the energy company,
Enron; how they adopted a new financial system called “Mark-tomarket”, how they became one of the world’s biggest companies before
becoming the world’s biggest corporate bankruptcy as the stock price
collapsed in 2001 when unfair and illegal practice was uncovered.
The play is set in Texas and opens in the late 1990’s, working its way up
to the collapse in 2001. It focuses on the “genius” behind “Mark-to-
market”, Jeff Skelling and how he rose up the ranks to CEO of the
company only to be discovered as a criminal once all the dealings were
shown. The play’s other principles are Andy Fastow who works with
Skelling on illegal plans as the company’s CEO, Ken Lay the company’s
Chairman and Claudia Roe an ambitious woman who works for Enron
but takes no part in the ill-practice.
ENRON premiered at Chichester Festival Theatre before transferring to
the West End and then to Broadway. It received incredible reviews in the
UK, but was a colossal failure in the US. Americans, it seems, don’t like
being told they were wrong. It was written by Lucy Prebble who is exSuTCo and has recently had a sell-out production at the National
Theatre with The Effect starring Billie Piper.
The script is simply awesome. It’s fast paced and humorous. Despite
being about economics this is not the focus of the play, complex terms
are explained where needed and not used if not. The play is about the
people, their relationships and how a few people made something so big
go so wrong.
Staging
In the drama studio, I would like to drop a cyclorama in down stage of
the Baptistery and then back project onto this. This would allow many
locations to be shown easily but also would give a platform for some of
the most visual elements of the play. Given the content, there are many
references to historic events and I would like to use news footage here.
Both the lighting and sound designs would have to be bold and powerful
and work with the AV so that the piece is as visually effective as
possible.
I would like to have 2 tiers of metrodeck creating a semi-circle upstage.
These would add levels which would reinforce the hierarchy in the
company and also add to the movement of the show (several movement
sections are written in). The set design is fairly basic but we would be
looking for a set designer to get involved, principally for set dressing as
there is scope to take these basic ideas and run with them. We would
also want lighting, sound and AV designers.
Admin
The rights are £93/night and available from Samuel French Ltd. To my
knowledge there has not been a professional revival of the show since
its London run.
We would be looking for week 2 or 4 slot. The show would be cast
before summer, with lines to be learnt over the holiday, coming back
early to rehearse before fresher’s week (September 23rd-29th).
The play has 1 female lead and 3 male leads. The rest of the company
can be either male or female and between them have to play the part of
traders, analysts, lawyers, senators and reporters. We would be looking
to have a company of around 10.
Why should SuTCo do this play?
Because it’s awesome is the short answer.
It has a great script, great parts makes a big statement and is interesting
to watch. It was written by someone who used to be part of the society
too which is pretty cool.
We also have some unique opportunities with AV design and the chance
to act in a show that has distinct elements of naturalism as well as
physical, non-naturalistic sequences.
As such we believe it would make a great
addition to the early part of SuTCo’s Autumn
2013 season.