Stage Review - Glengarry Glen Ross (SecondStory Rep)

Stage Review - Glengarry Glen Ross
Presented By: SecondStory Rep - Redmond, WA
Show Run: September 26 - October 12, 2025
Date Reviewed: Friday, October 10, 2025 (closing weekend)
Run Time: 90 minutes (inclusive of a 10-minute intermission)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman

If anyone knows me, they know that if I were ever to come back on stage as an actor, it would most likely be to be part of this Glengarry Glen Ross. This play has always had a special place for me — its grit and raw emotion are a kind of catharsis, both for those acting in it and for those in the audience. The characters require the actors to dig deep, to reach a part of themselves that exists in all of us but rarely sees the light of day. From an audience perspective, it’s a play that feels refreshing to see performed, given how rare it is these days to see a company willing to take on something this raw and unapologetic. Kudos to Mark Chenovick and the SecondStory Rep team for choosing a hard, controversial play like this one when it might have been easier to go with something lighter or more conventionally uplifting. Glengarry Glen Ross is a tragedy in the classic sense — one that deals in capitalism, morality, and masculinity, or more specifically, what we now call toxic masculinity. It contains some truly shocking dialogue and attitudes, but that’s part of what makes Mamet’s writing so effective: it’s honest, it’s ugly, and it’s human. I wondered whether reviewing a personal favorite might make me more critical of it, but I’m happy to say that SecondStory Rep’s production, which runs through October 12, not only met my expectations — it exceeds them.

Under Alicia Mendez’s direction, this production captures everything that makes Glengarry Glen Ross great: the rhythm, the tension, and the brutal humanity. The energy throughout the entire play from start to finish is electric, and the timing between the actors is sharp enough to cut glass. It’s an ensemble working in complete sync, each character fully realized and feeding off the next, and it’s the kind of production that reminds you why live theatre exists — because no film, regardless of how good it is, as the 1992 Glengarry film is, can recreate the sweat, silence, and shared air of this play.

On the design side, Mark Chenovick, serving as Production Designer, has once again created a world that fits the play on stage like a glove. Act One, set in a dimly lit Chinese restaurant, immediately establishes tone and mood — the dark wood, the muted reds, the suggestion of smoke in the air. It’s a place that feels alive, the perfect backdrop for whispered schemes and nervous small talk. The brief intermission between Acts One and Two allows for a fast but remarkable transformation, from restaurant to sales office. Suddenly, we’re in the dingy belly of the business — lockers upstage, desks cluttered with paperwork, things strewn about a result of the events of the previous night. Even the glass walls of John Williamson’s office — opaque but not entirely so — allow the audience to catch glimpses of what’s happening behind closed doors, overlapping with conversations downstage. It’s the kind of staging that makes you lean forward, trying to take in all the action at once. The lighting design captures the contrast beautifully: gritty and warm in the restaurant, harsh and sterile in the office, the life sucked out of the world along with the characters’ remaining optimism. The sound, too, is effective in its restraint — the faint din of the music in the restaurant, a simple underscore that adds weight without distraction.

Usually in an ensemble piece like this, one actor emerges as the standout, the performance you can’t stop thinking about afterward. But here, that becomes the challenge — because every single one of them is exceptional. Terry Boyd’s Shelley “The Machine” Levene is both heartbreaking and desperate, his voice cracking under the weight of his own self-pity, yet he somehow manages to make us root for him. Jeremy Radick’s Moss and Rick Wright’s Aaronow share what may be the best scene in the show — their Act One conversation is so sharp and measured that you forget you’re watching a play at all. Their timing is flawless, the ebb and flow of persuasion and resistance building with perfect tension. Scot Charles Anderson’s Richard Roma is captivating from the moment he opens his mouth — slick, charming, and dangerous in his confidence — while Jack Anderson’s turn as John Williamson is a masterclass in quiet authority, his control subtle but absolute. Together, they make this office feel like a war zone, every word another bullet fired. What’s most impressive is how cohesive the ensemble is. This group clearly came prepared. Every pause, every inflection feels deliberate, rehearsed not for repetition but for precision. Mamet’s dialogue, with its layered interruptions and overlapping rhythms, is notoriously difficult to master, yet here it feels effortless. There’s not a dropped beat or a forced exchange. It’s the mark of a cast that not only understands the text but also trusts each other completely.

The excellence follows to the supporting cast as well. Jay Jenkins is wonderful as full of regret James Lingk. His Act 2 scene with Scot’s Roma proves that Jay can more than hold his own with this group. He’s nervous, the audience can clearly feel him sweating, at having to report back to his wife that he may not be able to get their money back on their purchase. Rounding out the cast is Patrick Hogan as Detective Baylen. In this role, Patrick is stern, impatient, but measured. Both of these gentleman prove that you don’t need a lot of stage time to make an impact.

This production understands the play’s emotional truth. The men in Glengarry Glen Ross are, at their core, tragic figures — desperate, flawed, and all too real. They are the casualties of an economic system that rewards ruthlessness and punishes vulnerability. Alicia and this cast embrace that tragedy without apology, refusing to soften the edges or sanitize the grit. It’s theatre that makes you uncomfortable in the best possible way, because it’s truthful. When the proverbial curtain drops, what lingers isn’t the profanity or the shouting (there is a lot of both), but the silence that follows — the heavy realization that what was just presented on stage was something unapologetically honest. SecondStory Rep’s Glengarry Glen Ross is as bold as it is brilliant, a masterclass in precision, performance, and purpose. It’s the kind of show that reminds us that great theatre doesn’t have to be pretty — it just has to be true.

The SecondStory Rep production of Glengarry Glen Ross closes on Sunday, October 12. For more information about the show, or about the theatre’s current season, visit https://www.secondstoryrep.org/.

Photo credit: Michael Brunk