EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — If you like your theater up close and personal, a new production of “Glengarry Glen Ross” is bringing the drama straight into a house in Central El Paso — with the audience seated right in the middle of the action.
The play by David Mamet play is a Pulitzer-winning play, later adapted into a film starring Al Pacino, Jack Lemon, and Alec Baldwin. According to the director Alejandro Tijinera the play centers around the lives of salesmen who can’t seem to catch a break, with each character representing a different phase of salesmen or a different type of salesman.
Adam Zarowski, the founder of Teatro Neplanta who is also producing and in the play explained his character ‘Richard Roma’ as a natural kind of salesman, describing him as “the top name on the board”.
What makes this El Paso run stand out is the setting: It’s staged as an immersive experience inside a home. And get this, it is actually Zarowski’s home.
Zarowski explained the show mainly takes place in his living room with 25 chairs in the middle of the performance space — meaning audience members could be seated just inches from the actors as scenes unfold.
To pull it off, Zarowski said the team spent about a week and a half kind of gutting the living room and other rooms used for the production. Other spaces used are Zarowski’s dining room and bedroom which will be used for an office space and a Chinese restaurant.
“It’s a sacrifice,” Zarowski said, adding, “it’s for the love of the art.”
Tijinera said producer Adam chose the play because he likes to choose plays that are hard, and because the story feels timely.
“We’re always looking for relevant theater for stories that are that are relevant to the world and relevant to our community,” Zarowski said, adding that many people can relate to the characters’ financial stress: “I think a lot of people are struggling to figure out how to pay for this and how to pay for this and and can relate to these salesmen who who are living on a month-to-month paycheck.”
Abel Garcia, who plays Shelly Levenne in the play said the script ultimately digs into: “what are people driven to do like when they’re just completely under this this this crazy pressure cooker,” Garcia said.
Garcia also emphasized the importance of supporting local arts.
“We all need to support each other like the arts need to support each other,” he said, adding that “the strength of any city is comes from their arts and comes from their arts community.”
The production runs for two weeks.
Tickets are available to purchase online now.
ARC El Paso
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