Review: Enron

FRAUDSTERS BROUGHT THE ENERGY COMPANY ENRON TO RUIN

Helsinki City Theatre’s Enron is a true story about ruthless businessmen.

Lucy Prebble from England has done what many dream of. The 29-year-old author has written a topical play based on reality that captures the audience in a grippy grip.

The director also has a credit for Enron’s success at the Helsinki City Theatre. The performance, directed by Kari Heiskanen, is tense and even exciting. The rhythm of Enron is like that of a flowing spring stream. Sex is not shunned either, but it is not used to fish for the popularity of viewers.

And what is most encouraging: the large auditorium of the City Theatre is filled during the golden age of Christmas parties, even though Enro is anything but a harmless way to pass the time. The play has also been a success in London and New York, and its film rights have already been sold.

Enron tells the story of the rise and fall of the American energy company of the same name. The company’s tremendous success was based on incorrect accounting. By the time the accounting crime was discovered, it was already too late: the managers had already sold their shares, the employees were left without their wages and pensions, and the investors lost their money.

In 2000, Enron was the seventh largest company in the United States. In December of the following year, it filed for bankruptcy. The company’s debts amounted to $38 billion.

In 2006, Enron’s management was sentenced to prison and millions of dollars in damages. Enron’s Board of Directors and auditors affirmed their innocence. Director-General Kenneth Lay blamed all the blame on his subordinates. He died the same year while on holiday.

Seppo Maijala is a convincing Lay, who stays in the background but still makes crucial decisions. He chooses Jeffrey Skilling as CEO, even though Claudia Roe is his favorite girl. Maybe Enron would still be standing if Lay had chosen otherwise. Claudia Roe wanted Enron to do something concrete. Enron succeeded with a scam.

Eero Aho does a handsome job as a careless but intelligent Skilling, whose world is filled with money. The lack of encounter between a father and a young daughter is telling.

After Enron’s story ended, Skilling was sentenced in court to more than 24 years in prison and $26 million in damages.

Ilkka Forss interprets the role of Andy Fastow convincingly. Fastow is Skilling’s sly working partner, a true master of intrigue until the end. After Enron collapsed, he switched camps and assisted the authorities against his former co-workers – and was sentenced to only six years in prison.

Milka Ahlroth is credible as Claudia Roe, Tiia Louste as an analyst. In general, the casting has been successful.

The sparse set design leaves the big stage as a playground for Enron’s men.