Glengarry Glen Ross review – Mamet’s gender-swapped motormouths fail to close the deal

Old Vic theatre, London
Patrick Marber’s perplexing revival of the salesmen classic amps up the comedy and the performance of masculinity but veers into Bugsy Malone territory

There are few more masterly portraits of 1980s caveman capitalism than David Mamet’s drama about fast-talking Chicago real estate salesmen. Mamet is arguably the premier playwright for capturing American masculinity of this era, so it is surprising to learn that the idea to stage an all-female version came from him.

This new production has the same director as last year’s all-male Broadway revival, Patrick Marber. The wardrobe underlines that the female ensemble are playing at being men, pitted against each other with unequal sales leads and driven to ever more unprincipled acts in the hope to come out on top.