By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN? Friday 5 June, opens 16 June and runs through 18 July 2026 RUNTIME: 90 minutes (without interval)

Welcome to the 1st professional staging of this David Mamet classic about the toxic masculinity of Florida real estate salesmen with an all-female cast.

• Read on for reasons including why you should witness theatrical electricity at work in this gladiatorial production

Writing in the programme, this venue’s outgoing artistic director Matthew Warchus describes this in-the-round setting as gladiatorial and Glengarry Glen Ross is renowned for its no-holds-barred dialogue and Death Of A Salesman-on-steroids plot as its cast competes against each other to save their jobs.

Penned in 1983 as Thatcher and Reagan propelled rampant consumerism and the rise of individualism and profit, the women here more than convince as being motivated by, amongst other things, desperation and a willingness to exploit the naivety of those customers they appear to be serving.

Varma (Oedipus, Old Vic), in particular, has never been better – and she’s reliably utterly brilliant – than she is here as Shelley ‘The Machine’ Levene, a part usually cast older, as a once-brilliant salesman now down-on-their-luck who will do literally anything to keep their job.

Salazar (High Noon, Harold Pinter Theatre) has the showiest part as Richard Roma, the office’s top closer, who declares: ‘We’re all queer now’ as she attempts to seduce a closeted buyer and then acts unscrupulously in an attempt to deceive the client they’re expected to be representing.

We loved Dorothea Myer-Bennett in The Holy Rosenbergs (Menier) recently and here she shows not afraid to roll up her sleeves and get down and dirty with the salesmen as she plays office manager Williamson thrown into confusion when a break-in sees the prized leads that the estate agents rely on for their commission go missing.

The cast appear freed by the gender switch which means they no longer have the weight of iconic previous performances on their shoulders and the sex change brings some interesting nuances and twists to the plot.

Director Patrick Marber (The Producers, Garrick Theatre) writes in the programme that he was approached by Mamet’s theatre producer to helm a 2023 Broadway production – criticised for the miscasting of Kieran Culkin – with the intention of it transferring to an all-female cast after its run.

That never happened which is perhaps fortuitous because had it we may never have been in the front row here to witness theatrical electricity at work.

We last saw Glengarry Glen Ross in 2017 at the Playhouse Theatre when 10 minutes in, actor Robert Glenister collapsed clutching his chest saying: ‘Oh God!’ as the curtain came down early.

Thankfully, this production didn’t have quite that drama to contend with but it’s all-female cast proved more than up to the challenge of demonstrating salespeople of either sex can be as backstabbing and ruthless as each other.

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy Old Vic Theatre Tickets
• Have you seen an Old Vic show before and what did you think of this 1? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
• Enjoyed this preview? Follow monstagigz on Twitter @NeilDurham, email neildurham3@gmail.com and check us out on Instagram and Facebook