My First Impressions

First Impressions of the Text
'Enron' has so many themes surrounding it: business, power, money, relationships, domination, humiliation, all of which come together to create a play bursting with contemporary energy, intellectual writing and experimental ensemble pieces. 'Enron' is what I as a 21st century actress live for. On my initial reading of the play the excitement the mere prospect of performing 'Enron' gave me was immense and surpassed the enthusiasm any other play has given me to date. The chance to work on a piece that reminded me of everything I love about Theatre was one I felt a compelling need to be a part of.

Being introduced to our main characters: Skilling, Lay and Fastow, we are drawn in to their world, through their unique characteristics, ranging from Ken's southern charm to Fastow's dark secrets. As a reader you are delighted to see the range of characters presented to us in 'Enron.' As they are all real people, there is also a sense of danger as we are dabbling in the real world of business and scandal whilst employing a certain degree of artistic license. Coming to understand men that were viewed by the world as greedy, self serving businessmen, becoming almost complacent to their deceit as you allow yourself to come to know them and whether love or hate, you develop a relationship with them by observing their broad spectrum of emotions and characteristics. They become people not figures.

Claudia Roe is not real; in fact out of the four protagonists, she is the only one who didn't exist. However she is essential in the plot of the play, acting as both a doppelganger and a foil for Skilling as their relationship constantly changes between friend and foe. She acts as an oracle when the business crumbles and mirrors Skilling's rise and fall of power as she makes her own similar journey. In the context of the play she brings class and sex to a world of male dominant business- she is the red in a world of grey.

Why did she appeal to me? For the same reason she would call out to many female actresses; she is smart, sexy, ambitious, dominant and emotional. She won't be second best and can manipulate a room and people at the snap of her fingers. She covers a variety of elements that some of the most revered heroines contain and therefore became a representation of everything I wanted to transform into. She couldn't be more different from me and yet this drew me to her even more. Yes I may be ambitious, but my thought process when it comes to getting my own way, doesn't even correlate slightly with hers. She opens up a whole new dimension, not for just me as an actress, but as a women. She became my heroine when I read her for all the wrong reasons, which is secretly the most refreshing thing to happen to me for a long time.