The Invested

September 14, 2011 - attended

September 22, 2011 - reviewed

This play is an off-off Bway retelling of a story we have heard before.  It is well-written, but why was it written?  Either Sharyn Rothstein has been working on it for years and started it when the message was new, or she somehow feels she has a new perspective. 

It is the story of a stocks bundler who makes big bucks off shady dealing, and the ambitious and talented female underling who has just been passed over for the CEO job.  Familiar combination:  feminist message, a capable business analyst hitting the glass ceiling.  But we don’t really know that.  Perhaps the fund which Bill Enoch, played by Thomas Hildreth, created then sold to the corporation was the deal maker.  We don’t know, so the feminist message loses its punch.

As it turns out Catherine Murdoch, played by Christina Haag, is more scrupulous and probably smarter than Enoch, but corruption wins the day.  But not the war.  He is going to get his comeuppance;  whether out of scruples or get-even we can’t be sure.  I will give Catherine the benefit of the doubt and say she believes that ethics has a place even when making money is the name of the game.

But, as I said, we have seen this story in other clothing.  If it is a morality play we have seen versions for 2,011 years.  If it is a Wall Street play we have seen versions since 1987, and we still like Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen best.