Who would have thought that a stage production of what must have been one of the biggest and complex financial scandals to hit the world economy could actually turn out to be funny, entertaining and an actual hit.

Everyone must certainly know the name Enron even if they don’t necessarily know the full story behind it the name. The Play tells the story of the energy company Enron and how it reached a ridiculously capitalisation in the market only to suddenly and dramatically drop and find itself in debts totaling billions and billions, nearly bringing down the economy, the finance sector and the audit sector with it.

I don’t know how the play does it but somehow the miracle in the play, aside from making what seems like a fairly dry subject interesting, was its ability to explain extremely complex and technical finance and financial matters crystal clear to the audience. Even those without that kind of background. Though I struggle to try and explain exactly what went wrong with Enron in layman’s terms now, during the play at least I could pin point it exactly. Great use of metaphors.

I was enthralled from the beginning though I must admit a part of it was probably the accountant side of me! And let’s say I’m fairly confident there were a high proportion of accountants in the audience tonight! But there is plenty to entertain for the general audience.

The play is innovative, e.g. the deathstar dance with the light sabers was particularly fun, and it is also witty and smart. The stage is small and they made great use of the space and the set taking great advantage of the lighting technology. The cast are extremely charming and though its hard to feel sorry for the guy who did the bad deed you kind of had to admire the delivery of the actor.

If there was one thing I wasn’t expecting was that Enron was a lot more sexual and profane than expected. Then again huge amounts of money were involved and I guess these kinds of things go in hand.

Enron The Play is definitely worth your time.