Glengarry Glen Ross at Soulpepper Theatre in Toronto
Actor Jordan Pettle Discusses Why Playwright David Mamet Resonates With Women
May 6, 2009
Directed by David Storch, actor Jordan Pettle (Zadie’s Shoes, Fugitive Pieces) plays office manager John Williamson opposite some of Canada’s finest actors for Soulpepper Theatre in Toronto. Soulpepper's powerhouse cast includes Albert Schultz, (Richard Roma) Eric Peterson (Shelley Levene) Peter Donaldson (Dave Moss) and William Webster (George Aronow).
How did the process go? Did you all work really closely with David Storch, or did you all come to him with your Mamet personnas and then fine tune this piece?
Jordan Pettle: “We built it together. David has specific ideas about who these guys were, and based on who we are as actors, he worked really well as far as honing it down. David has very strong ideas about who he wanted everyone to be, how he heard them all, how he saw them all, as any good rehearsal process is, and this one was really good – very collaborative.”
This cast has some major chops. Comments about working with these stage veterans ...
Jordan Pettle: “I feel very privileged to be in this company of actors. I have worked with basically everyone in the cast before, but to work with all these guys together on this play which demands so much… well, it’s incredible. The acting teamwork has to be impeccable. You can’t stop giving to your partner for a second.”
If you had the chance to play another character in this play, who would it be, and why?
Jordan Pettle: “They are all such great characters. I would happily play any character in this play, but someday, I would like to play Shelley Levene. I think that is a beautiful part.”
I see Shelley Levine like Arthur Miller's Willy Loman one step removed. If you had to write the GGR epilogue, what would happen to these guys?
Jordan Pettle: “I think Levene goes to jail. They probably get the leads back , but I am pretty sure that this office shuts down. It’s a mess now, and the leads are gone. So ...they get the leads back. Williamson probably stays in the business. Aronow doesn’t have many years left, and Moss probably gets implicated in the crime, and does some time as well. Roma goes off and gets a new seller."
What do women glean from this play?
Jordan Pettle: “For a lot women, this play confirms that men are assholes. I am half joking, but it is a very real macho world that these guys are living in. Some women are appalled by it. They find it vulgar, but I also think that some women realize the reality of a male-centric world where it is dog-eat-dog, and these guys are all trying to survive. This play is an ugly portrait of a certain aspect of masculinity but I think it is very truthful. Women and men recognize it that way, especially if they work in a corporate environment.”
What is the general audience reaction depsite Mamet's pounding profanity?
Jordan Pettle: “The audiences are enjoying the show, which is really gratifying and a lot them say that it is very timely. I think people find this, on some level, cathartic too, seeing people behaving in such a primal-based way. At a talk back I did the other night ,some guy said the play has inspired him to go back to his office and tell everyone off. Mamet has tapped into something very base, and primal, but also very true, in the way people in this environment have to behave to survive.”
During an interview, Alan Alda who played Shelley Levine On Broadway, in 2005, once mentioned the four plays with central sales themes – The Music Man, Death of a Salesman, The Iceman Cometh, Glengarry Glen Ross. Why do these plays continue to resonate with today’s audiences?
Jordan Pettle: “So much of our dynamic of North America and culture is corporate now.
You turn on the TV and there’s 16 commercials, and they are trying to sell something to you. Until that goes away, if it ever does, and I am not sure it ever will, I think we always feel on some level in life, that someone is always trying to sell something to us. Who do you trust? Who is not trying to make us? Who are we not a mark for, in a society that’s based on the power of money.”
In the script, what is your favourite line, and what is the hardest scene to do?
Jordan Pettle: “They are all hard. I like telling Levene about the Nyborgs. But the hardest scene to do is probably the first scene with Levene (Eric Peterson) – just the two of us and it is so quick. So much gets revealed, and it has to be very specific and very fast, and yet it also has to be playful, energetic and fun at the same time. It is very challenging to do, and I am blessed that I get to this with Eric Peterson.
Due to popular demand, Glengarry Glen Ross has been been held over and continues at Toronto's Soulpepper Theatre to May 16.
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