Films like “Wall Street” and “Other People’s Money” are dated enough by now to qualify as popcorn treats – time-stamped for inclusion in any time capsule from the greed-fueled era of 1980s Reaganomics. They should no longer cause buttery indigestion.
Problem is, the Gordon Gekkos and Larry Garfinkles of the business world haven’t gone anywhere. The hair and waistlines may have changed, but consolidation and outsourcing and layoffs remain prevalent in every corner of industry from the media to telecom to big oil.
What makes “Other People’s Money” more significant than the more popular “Wall Street” is that it offers a far more compelling if disquieting ethical argument in defense of the marauders. That’s just one reason Jerry Sterner’s play is studied in business-ethics classes at universities around the country.
Garfinkle represents that particularly mercenary wing of raiders who buy companies worth more dead than alive, then kill them. In this play, he intends to kill off all but one profitable arm of a family-owned wire and cable company in Rhode Island that is slowly dying on its own. Hundreds of jobs will be lost and families ruined – but not all of them. Think Aron Ralston cutting off his arm so that it might survive the death of his body.
When you think of the thousands of Americans who have lost their livelihoods by predators like these, you rightly ask, “Where’s the ethical conundrum here?” And it’s true. Gar-
finkle is heartless scum. But men like him don’t answer to laborers; they answer to stockholders, and his job is to make them a return on their investment.
The play’s overriding question is a legitimate one: Where does it say the interests of workers should supersede the interests of stockholders in the cutthroat paradigm of American business?
The Victorian Playhouse’s uneven but compelling staging is notable for the winning performance by veteran Wade Wood. The tag line for the 1991 film starring Danny DeVito read: “Meet Larry the Liquidator. Arrogant. Greedy. Self-centered. Ruthless. You gotta love the guy.” That fairly sums up the frustratingly likable job by Wood. Even if it’s a DeVito knockoff, it’s a darned good one.
Also effective in her return to the stage after a long absence is Lisa Rosenhagen as Kate, the lawyer and daughter of the raided company’s patriarch. Being the pig that he is, Garfinkle can’t resist wooing Kate while at the same time trying to outfox her. As Kate becomes begrudgingly susceptible to his twin seductions, so should the audience.
The play’s insider dialogue and legalese might alienate some, but Wood’s crude courting and Rosenhagen’s counter-
moves should keep all engaged. Newcomer Michael Grittner acquits himself nicely as the vacillating company president William Coles, but several other roles are not fully realized.
It has been rightly suggested that chairman Andrew Jorgenson qualifies as a tragic hero – a prideful waffler doomed by his own stubborn unwillingness to act. There is all manner of Shakespearean subtext to mine in this role, but he’s played here as a pretty straightforward dolt.
Still it’s a pleasant evening, the latest example that the newly reopened Victorian intends to make staging deliberate, character-based stories its niche. It was a shame to see only a dozen people at a recent performance. It deserves better.
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-820-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
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“Other People’s Money” | ** 1/2 RATING
DRAMA|Victorian Theatre, 4201 Hooker St.| By Jerry Sterner|Directed by Janet DeRuvo| THROUGH JUNE 24| 7:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays|2 hours, 20 minutes| $18- $20|303-433-4343
