Patrick Marber's gender-swapped revival of David Mamet's classic salesmen drama at the Old Vic theatre has left critics divided, with some praising its comedic energy while others lament the loss of the original's dark tragedy.
The production, which follows last year's all-male Broadway revival, features an all-female cast performing as male characters. Indira Varma plays Levene, the elder salesman on a losing streak, with what one critic described as 'apoplectic relish' and a 'perennial caffeine high', missing the compassionate dimensions Jack Lemmon brought to the role in the 1992 film.
Rosa Salazar's Roma is highlighted as the production's standout, a smooth wheeler-dealer who does not demand empathy. However, other characters like Aaronow (Nancy Crane) and Moss (Niky Wardley) are less defined, and the office manager Williamson (Dorothea Myer-Bennett) lacks menace.
The staging, in the round, creates a distance between character and actor, emphasising the 'performance' of masculinity. But the darkness of the original is missing, with the high energy and volume becoming relentless and tonally flattening. At times, the production veers into 'Bugsy Malone territory', an exaggerated dress-up version.
Critics question the purpose of the gender reversal, especially given that TV series like Industry have shown women capable of aggressive power-play. The production does not contemporise its corporate world, leaving unresolved whether these women are playing at being men or performing as female versions of Mamet's capitalists, particularly in the era of Margaret Thatcher.
