Bad day at the office

Today was not a good day. We did some good rehearsing for a time, but this will be recorded as the Enron cast's bad day.

We worked through two scenes today so I'll start with that. Firstly Sam, Tat, Kai and I worked with Ben on the split scene which was a really interesting dynamic to work with. Working in a split scene is a test of concentration and is a demonstration of how well you can build and invest in your world. Kai and Sam share a scene that is very active and upbeat, a scene of high energy and light humour. Sam and Kai's scene is the kind of scene I find myself wanting to watch when I'm not speaking; I find myself taking a glance at them working because they are producing work that is enticing, fun and witty and so naturally you are drawn in. However, I am not their audience in that scene- to me they do not exist in that moment. My scene is about Claudia and Lay sharing a mother and daughter moment, which contrasts the nature of Jeff and Andy's scene, but my investment in my world will be paramount not only in building a good character and relationship in this scene, but helping the audience stay on track in this duel scene and matching the work of the boys on the floor.

I love this scene because it is the first time we see a flip side to Claudia's character. We see a more vulnerable person, a childlike side being bought out by this mothering figure of Lay. Working alongside Lay in our first private scene is a pure joy and something I feel is important to record and talk about because it was the light of a dark day. Tatenda oozes a regal, commanding vibe which creates such a rich atmosphere, yet in this scene Claudia is deliberately contrasting this because she is having a tantrum- if she can't be happy, neither can anyone else. The clash of these two natures in this scene is how we will create sparks which will contrast, but hopefully match the energy the boys bring on the floor. My concerns about this scene currently reside in the feat of making our scene as entertaining as Skilling and Fastow's. The natural comedy Kai brings to his role is so entertaining, so then to be the one to bring a downer on the whole scene; I almost want to tell Claudia to get a grip and shut up so we can all focus on Fastow in that moment. However what I need to remember is that Claudia has been genuinely hurt at this point: her dreams have been shattered, she feels betrayed and worthless and this is her acting out. Our section of the scene may not be lighthearted or go down in the history as the most comical and yet the entertainment and drama will come from the relationship myself and Tat form onstage, fuelled by the raw necessity our characters feel to get their point across. It will be an interesting combination to watch onstage and as Claud and Lay always follow the boys, we have to match their energy and intensity by investing in our world as much as they do. It creates that competitive fight that Enron is all about: to be heard, to be on top, to be the best.

The second scene we blocked today was the analyst scene. You could say the extent of Claudia's role in this scene is opening the doors and that's it, job done, but what I got to do here was watch. There aren't many plays and rehearsals in which when you are told to 'just watch' that you enjoy it- it isn't the meatiest task to be given, but I really enjoyed just experiencing this world that is being pieced together each week as we work. I was observing in two minds: number one as Olivia, getting to revel in the excitement that this world gives me, for me as an actress, it's like being a child at Christmas; it comes around every year and yet each time you get just as excited. Then I observe as Claudia, bitter and begrudging of Skilling as he obtains everything I wanted. Both gives me emotional stimulus in my gut which is something I want to carry through into the next scenes, an energy that I hope will translate onstage and inject passion into my following scenes which is informed entirely by the stimulus of the world and the character.

And now for the elephant in the room- why was the rehearsal so bad? If you took into account how personally productive I found it, it would appear to be a very successful rehearsal, but here's the catch. Forgetting the details of the incident, today our ensemble forgot the core thing holding us together; we are a unit, a family and when we decide to turn on one another, we lose a relationship and connection that we have all seen grow and form over the weeks. And it was really sad to see that in question today. Our rehearsal finished today with Ben reminding us that if we repeat what happened today, we will let him, ourselves and each other down. What he said to us today was harsh but it needed to be said- at the end of the day as a group of people, we are responsible for each other's actions. This is a unit reliant on communication, care and trust- without that we are left with nothing. If we forget that these people are our family for the next 5 months, not just out of necessity, but because we are coming to know and love people we have not been able to interact with previously, we will lose a component that makes this all so magical. That bond is so precious, so special and yet fragile- one person could destroy that and without it we lose a spark that lights up this whole piece. Having a bad day today is okay, as long as we move forward heeding the words that have been spoken and making an internal promise to sort it out- there is no other way if we want this piece to come to fruition.

Let's Trade

Today was a learning curve- both in our development in creating the world and our creation of the physical aspects to the piece. Today we devised the physical sequence for the trader scene which threw us into the hectic mess that is the trading floor seen at Enron. This video explains what the traders at Enron were like:

“No one was more aggressive than the traders.” 

“If I step on somebodies throat on the way that doubles it, well I’ll stomp on the guy’s throat.”

“A new economic religion.”

Sources like this were really helpful when informing our work today. We had to get to grips with the violent necessity of the work these men and women carried out, whilst depicting the sacred ritual which existed on the trading floors of this major cooperation. It is moments like this in the play that will make or break the atmosphere of the world we create which will have a huge impact on whether we are able to immerse the audience in the story. If we can make our physical representations truthful and slick then we will be able to represent this sector of the business well and yet if we allow it to become sloppy and uninformed, the piece as a whole will become less mature, which will destroy this piece entirely. To make this play not just good but great, we need to bring a level of maturity and understanding that perhaps would not be expected of a group of students. We have no hope of understanding the business world from personal experience, so our research and dedication to the facts and artistry of the reality we are representing in our 'fictional' story, is of the utmost importance. 

To find truthful physical stimulus you need look no further than the trading floors and their abundance of hand signals used constantly to communicate with one and other. This video shows some of the many signals used:

I also made reference to this article in my research: Trading Pit's Hand Signals

Both of these show us the aggression and specific movement we need to channel in our physical sequence for the trader scene. From today's rehearsal I believe the key to this scene will be the confidence in what we are doing with our hands and bodies. As I am not going to be in the sequence today my main job was to watch and feedback to the group what it looked like. When we started it looked like a complete mess, but that was to be expected and with a scene (and indeed a play) like this it isn't so bad to have some of the components a little rough around the edges. However there's messy and then there was what we were producing at the start of today's rehearsal. The problem was that people had taken a glance at a video or picture of trading pit hand signals and then just made up their own movements. For this scene to be effective we need to know what we are doing with our hands, otherwise it is really obvious that the movement is not founded in truth and therefore the audience won't get on board. This piece could be a high energy, interactive moment which would pull the audience directly into our world; that is, if we know what we're dragging them into. After today's rehearsal it is clear that as a company we need to go away and do some thorough research on this part of our world and come back all on the same level of knowledge so as to make this movement and our world not a stab in the dark at what we think it would be like, but knowing exactly what went on in these chaotic trading floors.

Another element that will push this scene to be better is our ability to connect with the music we are using. The track is going to be one of the biggest aids when bringing the atmosphere of the trading floor to life, but I think as a group because we have focused so much on getting to grips with the movement, we forget that it won't work if it doesn't compliment the track we are using. I think as a general target, we all need to start to let the soundtrack of the whole play effect us, in the same way the text does. It is a key component to the piece and we need to start using it to enhance and develop our actions onstage. 

Side Stretch

It seems that side stretch is fast becoming part of the ritual of the Enron rehearsal room. Recording and understanding the significance of this warm up is important so as to make it something I do for a specific purpose and not just as a passive movement.

Step 1

Step 1:  we walk around the room and when we feel the need to we: stand still with your legs wide, raise your arms above your head and arch your neck backwards releasing your breath on an 'ah'. This should open you up both physically and to the space you are working in, making you focused and aware.

Step 2- when we have completed step 1 enough times to become sufficiently focus we assume the warrior pose in a space in the room. The aim is to connect with invisible lines that run through the space, our body and the atmosphere. Remaining silently strong and focused whilst waiting for others to assume this position allows the energy you gained from step 1 to be transferred and maintained.

Step 3- when everyone has completed steps 1 and 2 a person in the ensemble calls whether we are going right or left first and then we go right to left with our arms 8 times. Keeping the lines in your arms and counting aloud normally creates an atmospheric environment in the room.

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 4- after you reach your final 8 count, you twist your hips to face the direction of the last count lifting your hands into a diagonal parallel, an extension which should coincide with the line your legs are making. If you went from your toes to your fingers you should be able to draw a diagonal line.

Step 5- keeping your arms in parallel you slowly bend at the waist so your hands come down to position themselves one hand on either side of your front foot.

Step 6- stepping your front foot back you come into a plank position which then leads you into a press-up aiming to keep the transition from each movement as smooth and controlled as possible.

Step 5

Step 6 

Step 7

Step 7- after your press-up you move your arm nearest to the back of the room under your torso and use this motion to roll the opposite way onto your back so you are laying flat.

Step 8- slowly raise your arms and legs at the same time with your ankles and wrists crossed over each other with the aim to crunch your abdominal so you can see through the hole in your legs. Breathing is key in this position and you should hold this position until the room generally decides to lower back down to flat.

Step 9- after taking a moment to regain a normal rhythm of breath, roll back over onto your front and push yourself up into the sphinx position. When there, rotate your head slowly from left to right trying to take in everything you can see and sense in the room.

Step 8 

Step 9 

 

Step 10 

Step 10- after completing step 9 lower back down to flat. Then push your bum up and back so it comes to rest on your heels whilst extending your arms out into prayer position. Take a moment here to breath as if through your toes and experience the difference in breath when in this position.

Step 11- after time in position 10 flip your palms to face upwards and drag them backwards lifting the top half of your body up into kneeling. Take a moment here to rest and slowly feel the rotation of your body; your breath, physicality and mentality and when you feel the urge to stand and finish the rotation, come to stand in neutral, exuding energy towards the horizon.

Step 12- once everyone has come to the end of step 11 the room should be alive with the energy the actors are giving out. The focus should have peaked in this moment. Then our director will shout 'HA' and we jump back into warrior pose. The aim is to say and move on the 'HA' as if simultaneously without delay.

Step 11 

Step 12/1 

The aim of side stretch is to obtain the energy and focus that our rehearsals require. Taking a moment to get in tune with our bodies and minds sets us up for a good rehearsal full of positive energy and creativity. Side stretch should become not a serious of steps but a flowing transition, not separating any movement, but allowing them to become one move. It shouldn't be performed, but experienced and lived and it is important that if it doesn't work for one rehearsal with time and practice the exercise will become an easy entry point into the alive, constantly moving world of the play.

THAT Scene pt.2

Sam and I came in this Friday to work on Scene 2- the one which we tried and failed to work on this Wednesday. Ben was correct; it was definitely something me and Sam needed time alone to work out. The first time we attempted to block the scene, we couldn't take it seriously for more than 1 second; but that is what we expected. After that we took about 10 minutes to sit and laugh about this as Sam and Olivia and then continued, attempting to work as Jeff and Claudia, and if not at that level just yet, as a more professional version of ourselves. We still had awkward  moments and things we had to address that neither of us particularly wanted to mention, but eventually we were able to get comfortable with the scene and were ready to show it to Ben. Ironically for two people that didn't feel particularly comfortable with the scene, to be told that we'd done too much, was amusing. However in a way I'm glad we did because now I know that I don't have to go so far and so whatever happens now, can't be any worse. I think it is one of those things that once we get further on in the process, will be a moment that is so irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, that the fact that it made me uncomfortable will be laughable. However for now I am happy with how it is and I do feel much more comfortable with the whole thing which is important. 

I wanted this role because it was challenging and this tests that- it asks me to ask myself if I was prepared for that? The answer: perhaps I didn't know the specific challenges, but I'm ready to tackle them as they come. Although writing this now it seems as if my professionalism and willingness to give myself over to the character and the process is slim to none, but those feelings are just personal thought processes and the truth is that she is pushing me so far out of my comfort zone, but that is exactly why I wanted the chance to play her. Every day I'm slowly realising that a women that I saw as my foil is someone that I enjoy coming to know. As I come to develop an understanding of her mind, body and soul I see that she has so much depth and texture and she makes me so happy and excited to play. This is difficult, there is no contesting that, and yet it is moments like this, moments in which I feel so uncomfortable, that my inspiration to make the scene work has to come from outside of my own head; it's her I want to make it work for. It is a connection to a character that is proving to be so compelling and it is wonderful to sit here and begin to reflect on work that I would never have believed possible for me to do and the fact is I haven't done anything yet! I have mentioned many times now that the power of the play is that through the creation of these characters you come to love them and develop a sympathy for them and that is so true; Claudia is effecting me and I am coming to love a women that I logically having nothing in common with, a concept that is so thrilling for me as an actress.

THAT scene

Today's rehearsal's main focus for myself and Sam was Act 1 Scene 2 aka. the sex scene. Although the sex lasts for a matter of seconds and does not carry with it any romantic weight, for both myself and Sam taking the leap of faith and getting inside Jeff and Claudia's heads instead of our own was a little daunting.

Ever since reading the play we all knew that if we were successful in obtaining the roles we wanted, we would have to do this scene and at the time the prospect of a new challenge was enticing. However when you get told that your partner in said scene is your best friend, pros and cons start to appear. The pros; that I am comfortable with Sam and am able to be both physically and emotionally vulnerable with him, the cons; are self explanatory. Something like this divides the process and initiative of you as a student and as someone who wants to work professionally. Even recording this seems a little strange because in an ideal world it would be something that you could just get on with and wouldn't need to express any concern about and yet the reality was a little different. Our attempt at staging this scene today was fuelled less with professionalism and more with giggles. We decided with our director that this was something myself and Sam needed to work out for ourselves as admittedly it was an intimate, personal battle that we both had to conquer. This Friday we are going to try and stage it ourselves, get comfortable with the scene and then feed it back to Ben when it was at a stage in which we have overcome the initial barriers.

The rest of the scene was more successful in terms of our approach to the work. Similarly to last lesson, I was able to experience and experiment with the power Claudia holds at the start of the play and I think it is more enjoyable when a scene is one on one. When you are holding a whole group of people in the palm of our hand, of course you technically have "more" power and yet being able to focus all of your efforts on one person allows you to really hone in on what makes them squirm and therefore directly effect them and have more of an impact over all. When I wrote my first impressions of the play I talked about being complicit to the criminal actions as a reader or audience member throughout the play as we come to know and love the characters. I am starting to understand this concept at a more personal level. Although Claudia and I do not have much in common, I believe that we both enjoy exerting our power over others. There is an almost animalistic instinct to it, with power making you feel safe and untouchable, plus a basic human desire to be needed by someone or to control someone lies in the enjoyment I get out of these scenes. This scene is really fun to play around with because Jeff and Claudia seem to be in two very different states of mind; Jeff about to tell Claudia that he loves her and Claudia telling him (in not so many words) that this is just a bit of fun and doesn't really mean anything to her at all. Claudia seems to have a fundamental set of standards in her life, a scale in which she ranks everything in her life; power and control topping the list, adoration and sexuality possibly in the middle with sex and Jeff being at the bottom. Playing around with this mentality is so fun because as an actor she allows you to be bold onstage without the burden of emotional consequences- it's all just a game.

We also blocked Act 1 Scene 3 with Tatenda which was interesting to do directly after scene 2. In the space of a few paces across the stage I need to find a way to switch from playful, fun Claudia to the bitchy business women we see appear in the next scene. I think the change comes with the necessity of the power play; in Scene 2 she asserts power because she can, in Scene 3 she does it because she needs to. Ben wants me and Sam to start playing with our onstage 'battle' physically; actually pushing each other out off the way and stepping forward to make our point. This is a method which give us an initial grip on the intentions of the scene and we will then go on to find the subtleties later on. Something I'm loving in rehearsals is that with Claudia I can play a scene which is alluring and playful and then go straight into a scene of aggression and raw energy which keeps me on my toes and doesn't let me stop working. She is presenting me with a character which offers a spectrum of personal and extended relations and for me to work with, is proving it be immense fun. Although having fun isn't necessarily the priority in a rehearsal room I think for a play which requires such concentration and energy, the moment you loose fun, you've lost the magic of the whole piece.

And the Messiah came forth to the boozy office party

In today's rehearsal we started with the first scene; the office party. Before we started actively devising we needed to establish what an office party at Enron would be like; formal or informal? Classy or dirty? Polite or trashy? My answer would be both, entirely both. I believe that Enron was allowed to run for as long as it did because it had two natures, both completely true and both officially recognised. It had its lighter side; the side presented to the general public and investors formally, installing them as a secure, believable and profitable company. And their darker side; the side shown more in the play, the one that got them their reputation for partying and crazy antics (mostly of the books) and essentially the one that stained their other half. Enron were both. Perhaps the problem is you can't be both, you can't have everything. And yet at the start, Enron did have everything, so the start of the play can reflect this duality when it worked at its best.

Physicalizing this scene did not come as a surprise as we all expected much of the ensemble parts of the play to be in that style; plus I believe Enron's physical style was a reason why many people were attracted to it and so we were all keen to start working in this way. To start off our devising we were introduced to something called push hands. This consists of the hand, fingers and wrist being the only physical point of contact between two people. We experimented with movement across the space and the interaction with our partners whilst maintaining this point of contact. We then layered this with the context of an office party introducing a key component of that sort of event; drink. We started to give our experimentation purpose, finding ways to drink our own or our partners drink whilst keeping our hands attached. What I found with this exercise was that our movement became very ritualistic with the sharing of drinks being a sacred act which made us all commit both with our partners and with the whole group. This created a place in which drinking and partying were a core component of our lives, thus tapping into a key part of the Enron lifestyle. Taking something considered casual and impersonal and giving it platform to which we all turn and worship creates this feeling of Enron as a cult which added a dynamic layer to our work. 

We then created a secret handshake sequence in pairs which reflected the authoritative almost elitist feel of the him hands exercise with the whole ensemble taking pride and joy in the fact that no one but their partner knew the sequence. This pompous vibe is created by the people at the party feeling like they are part of the club. Having the confidence in our performance and movement will heighten this because if we believe that we are somehow special with the piece being completely about the personal involvement with the others in the room, almost ignoring the audience and Fastow with anyone who is not an insider being immediately cast out setting up this company as a ruling factor of the 1990s social scene. Now one else could compete because no one else knew how, in the same way no one could join this movement piece because they wouldn't be admitted by the general ensemble.

My favourite part of today's rehearsal was blocking the entrance of Roe and Lay simply because I was given power and could exercise it as I pleased, a prospect which seemed to speak to Claudia in me. If the ensemble is a cult, Roe and Lay enter as their leader or as their Messiah. We created two lines of people so myself and Tatenda could walk in the middle. Having the power to ignore or engage, to touch or deny, was intoxicating and strangely enjoyable. You know the effect you can have on someone and yet it is your choice whether to engage it that persons life. We then added in water bottles to fit with the style of the opening. Myself and Tatenda were able to choose whether to drink someones water or not. The most memorable moment of this exercise was leaning down to someones water as if to drink it but then just simply kissing the top of the bottle. Reflecting on it it all seems a little strange but in that moment two people become magnets; either fully connected or one repelling the other. I think this exercise has given one of the first real insights into the adoration the world had for Roe. She has so much power and responsibility and it is that exact thing that allows her to be so careless and cut throat with her peers. Its cruel... and I loved it. 

The non-fiction version of Enron

Although Enron is a fictional play it is rooted in the truth of what happened at the company. Understanding the chronology of events at Enron in parallel to our story is important because we need to honour and reflect the dealings that went on at the business. 

This is a timeline leading up to Enron's fall taken from the New York Times on which I have highlighted the key dates that I believe are important to know for the play:

1985 - Houston Natural Gas merges with InterNorth to form Enron, HNG CEO Kenneth Lay becomes CEO of combined company the following year.

1989 - Enron begins trading natural gas commodities.

1990 - Lay hires Jeffrey Skilling to lead the company's effort to focus on commodities trading in the deregulated markets. Andrew S. Fastow is one of Skilling's first hires later that year.

1991 - Richard Causey leaves Arthur Andersen LLP to join Enron as assistant controller.

1997 - Skilling named president and chief operating officer of Enron. Fastow creates Chewco, a partnership, to buy the University of California pension fund's stake in another joint venture dubbed JEDI, but Chewco doesn't meet requirements to be kept off Enron's balance sheet. First step toward similar financial moves to hide debt and inflate profits that fuel Enron's downfall.

1998 - Fastow named finance chief.

1999- Causey named chief accounting officer. Fastow creates the first of two partnerships, LJM, purported to "buy" poorly performing Enron assets and hedge risky investments but really helps the company hide debt and inflate profits. Enron directors approve Fastow's plan that he run the partnerships that do deals with Enron while continuing as Enron's finance chief. Causey and former chief risk officer Rick Buy assigned to monitor such deals to protect Enron's interests.

August 2000 - Enron shares reach high of $90.

December 2000 - Enron announces that Skilling, then president and chief operating officer, will succeed Kenneth Lay as CEO in February 2001. Lay will remain as chairman. Stock hits 52-week high of $84.87.

2001:

Aug. 14 - Skilling resigns; Lay named CEO again.

Aug. 22 - Finance executive Sherron Watkins meets privately with Lay to discuss concerns of murky finance and accounting that could ruin the company.

Oct. 16 - Enron announces $638 million in third-quarter losses and a $1.2 billion reduction in shareholder equity stemming from writeoffs related to failed broadband and water trading ventures as well as unwinding of so-called Raptors, or fragile entities backed by falling Enron stock created to hedge inflated asset values and keep hundreds of millions of dollars in debt off the energy company's books.

Oct. 19 - Securities and Exchange Commission launches inquiry into Enron finances.

Oct. 22 - Enron acknowledges SEC inquiry into a possible conflict of interest related to the company's dealings with Fastow's partnerships. Lay says, "We will cooperate fully with the SEC and look forward to the opportunity to put any concern about these transactions to rest."

Oct. 23 - Lay professes confidence in Fastow to analysts.

Oct. 24 - Fastow ousted.

Nov. 5 - Enron treasurer Ben Glisan Jr. and in-house attorney Kristina Mordaunt fired for investing in Fastow-run partnership.

Each invested $5,800 in 2001 and received a $1 million return a few weeks later.

Nov. 8 - Enron files documents with SEC revising its financial statements for previous five years to account for $586 million in losses.

Nov. 9 - Dynegy Inc. announces an agreement to buy Enron for more than $8 billion in stock.

Nov. 19 - Enron restates its third-quarter earnings and discloses a $690 million debt is due Nov. 27.

Nov. 28 - Enron stock plunges below $1 as Dynegy Inc. aborts its plan to buy its former rival.

Dec. 2 - Enron goes bankrupt, thousands of workers laid off.

2002:

Jan. 9 - Justice Department confirms it has begun a criminal investigation of Enron.

Jan. 10 - The White House discloses Lay sought help from two Cabinet members shortly before the company collapsed, but neither offered aid. The company's auditor, Arthur Andersen LLP, says it has destroyed tons of Enron documents.

Jan. 23 - Lay resigns as chairman and CEO.

Jan. 25 - Cliff Baxter, former head of Enron's trading unit and later vice president before his resignation in May 2001, found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Feb. 4 - Lay resigns from the board.

Feb. 7 - Skilling, Fastow, Michael Kopper appear at Congress with McMahon and in-house Enron lawyer Jordan Mintz. Skilling testifies; Fastow and Kopper invoke Fifth Amendment rights.

Feb. 12 - Lay invokes Fifth Amendment at a Senate hearing after expressing "profound sadness" at Enron's collapse.

March 14 - Former Enron auditor Arthur Andersen LLP indicted for destroying Enron-related documents to thwart investigators.

April 9 - David Duncan, Andersen's former top Enron auditor, pleads guilty to obstruction for instructing his staff to destroy documents as per company policy.

June 15 - Andersen convicted.

Not only is important to understand this timeline so I can apply my knowledge to my work but my choices as an actor will be informed by it. When I first read the play I was reading about these events that I had no clue about, let alone the significance in the companies journey. When you see the lawyers and accountants crop up in the play it just seems like a tool for making the world more formal and yet if you dig deeper these names were plastered all over the scandal. Plus it is enjoyable to find this all out because when you do a scene that is quite literally verbatim of an advert or an interview said by the characters onstage it makes you feel like you are a part of this crazy world. When building said world and forming relationships it is so important to allow ourselves to be informed by the real life events because it may not be 100% true 'but we're going to put it together and sell it to you as the truth' anyway.

Claudia's Dabhol Power Plant

Claudia's adventures in India are something that gets mentioned in the play a lot with it being the thing that brings her and Lay together, divides herself and Skilling and is ultimately the reason for her downfall. To understand the grand scale of the project I wanted to do some research into what, where and how this power plant came about.

The plan to build the plant was announced in 1992 with Enron saying they would invest $3 billion into building it. The plant was meant to be pinpointing Enron's international status and with the purpose of helping the Indian economy by providing them with the largest foreign investment in the countries history. However it turned out to go completely the other way for both Enron and India with the plant causing great economic turmoil and raising many questions about the human rights of the whole plan. From the start of the process the plant came under scrutiny as it was making direct deals with corrupt Indian politicians and officials in the hopes of getting the plant up and running faster. Human rights groups accused Enron of stealing land, damaging water supplies and employing criminal tactics to get there way. For example an attack by state police on a village who opposed the plant saw a pregnant women being beaten naked for being the wife of one of the oppositions leaders. However the US government found that the state forces and the Dabhol Power cooperation has violated no human rights and provided a further $300 million to Enron for its ventures in Dabhol ignoring the refusal the World Bank had given them. However in June 2001 the plants only customer, the Maharashtra state government, broke it's agreement as the power was too expensive. The power plant was a huge mess, with corruption and cut corners a plenty with the power plant itself having caused a huge economic and social impact in Dabhol that it is still recovering from to date.

Researching this made me really uncomfortable. I have talked so much about this women who I enjoy playing, getting into her head, listening to her thoughts and thinking with her brain and then you look at the consequences of all that ambition and the reality hits you that this women's big dream was to build this plant which caused such environmental and social problems. I suppose it goes to show the extent people at this company were willing to go to; for power, for position,  for money and it was all to be at whatever cost to the outside world. Using this to inform my character I hope to use my new found understanding of deals such as this to show a darker, ruthless side to my character that was willing to step on innocent people just to keep climbing the cooperate ladder.