At the Bush Theatre in London, people are definitely surprised when the first thing they see as they take a seat to watch “Money, the Game Show”, is a large pile of actual 10,000 pound coins in the center of the stage.
Not to worry, there is a security guard standing close by making sure the cash is protected during the 90 minute run of the show- where two hedge fund managers take the audience on a journey through the trading world at the start of the 2008 financial crisis.
Clare Duffy, the writer and director of “Money, the Game Show,” talked about her personal sense of bewilderment during the economic crisis which subverted a great deal of opinions people had in regards to capitalism and money.
Duffy stated, “Of course I’ve been thinking ever since Lehman Brothers went bankrupt, it was just extraordinary to see the globalised economy on the brink of disappearing, money actually not working,” she told Reuters during a break from rehearsals. “It never occurred to me that was possible.”
Clare Duffy has worked hard to make her play of the economic crisis as fetching as possible, as she uses a series of games in where the two lead actors playing hedge fund managers, work to lead their half of the audience to their side.
Hedge Manager 1, Casino, stands on one side, while Hedge Fund Manager 2, Queenie, stands on the other side, and they both encourage their sides of the audience to bet long and short, and to hedge both ways.
In one particular game, a member of the audience is required to place as many coins as they are able to into a suitcase for the same length of time that one hedge fund manager is able to keep a bubble of soap floating up in the air.
Another scene puts an audience member in the role of a rich client who is offered a slightly venturesome but highly profitable trade that will in turn “short” the subprime mortgage market, wagering that the subprime market will definitely crash.
The hedge fund managers claim, “We can make you rich,” and the pitch is extremely similar to the inner workings of Hollywood.
Bonuses and bailouts have definitely impacted the public opinion on how money is being used, and has brought out a lot of anger among the middle classes and poor. This play definitely points out that how money is used as well as misused in the hands of Wall Street, giving the audience a bird’s eye view into the economic crisis.
However, Clare Duffy has stated that her play was not written in order to promote an anti-capitalist view that focused on only the negative aspects of Wall Street and the economy.
Paul Stogner stated, “My intention is not to make crass comments about the jobs that people do. What I’m hoping is that I can open up those questions for the audience to make up their own mind and make the journey into that question as exciting, as fun, as entertaining and thought-provoking as possible.”
She went on further to say, “We have to have a security guard, we have to have CCTV recording the whole show, but that’s part of the drama of it.”
“Money the Game Show” is one of many plays in London that are taking their audience on a journey of the global financial crisis, including the thought provoking “The Power of Yes”, and “Enron,” a play that focuses on the corporation’s end in bankruptcy.
{ 0 comments }