Theatre review: Other People's Money

Southwark Playhouse’s publicity blurb for Other People’s Money originally included an endorsement from the current (at time of writing) US President; if it was intended to appeal to audiences’ morbid curiosity it presumably failed, as that quote’s now been taken down from the website* and audiences can make their own minds up as to whether there’s a character in Jerry Sterner’s 1989 play whom Trump could possibly have identified with. Sterner essentially pits against each other two archetypes of what American business is all about: Andrew “Jorgy” Jorgenson (Michael Brandon, the voice of Thomas the Tank Engine,) is the 68-year-old CEO of The Wire and Cable Company of New England, a Rhode Island business founded by his father, which employs over a thousand people in its central plant; this has long since ceased to be profitable, but a number of successful side projects keep the company afloat.

This attracts the attention of Lawrence Garfinkle (Rob Locke,) who quietly starts buying up shares in the business. Company president Bill (Mark Rose) wants to know why “Larry the Liquidator” has taken such an interest in them.

Jorgy’s loyalties are not just to the company but also to the employees and the town that’s mainly supported by the plant; having allowed Larry a foothold, he’s not willing to consider any of the usual legal but ethically dubious ways of stopping him getting a controlling interest, which hamstrings his lawyer: The daughter of Jorgy’s assistant Bea (Lin Blakley,) with whom Jorgy is implied to have been having an affair most of their lives, Kate (Amy Burke) takes on the job because her mother pressures her into it, but she starts to see beating Larry as a way of really making a name for herself at the firm. But with her client unwilling to fight fire with fire and trusting in the innate goodness of his shareholders her case looks doomed and Bill, who’s given his life to the company, starts to wonder if he’ll have anything to show for it in the end.

Katharine Farmer’s production shows the play as still standing up well enough, if not having the impact it might once have had – characters like Larry have become so ubiquitous in drama that it’s hard to be surprised by any of the story’s developments (except for the fact that a plot point revolves around shareholder proxy voting, which is a bit closer to my day job than I like in my downtime.) Emily Leonard’s design makes a good attempt at the ‘80s look, although you can see where the budget may have held her back – Kate is clearly meant to channel Kathleen Turner, but from the fit of her pants the ‘80s icon she’s more reminiscent of is MC Hammer. Other People’s Money still holds up, but since it first appeared its story’s been told better elsewhere.

Other People’s Money by Jerry Sterner is booking until the 11th of May at Southwark Playhouse’s Little Theatre.

Running time: 1 hour 50 minutes including interval.

Photo credit: Craig Sugden.

*although the reference to the play’s “moral combover” is still there, now minus context