Massive success for the Identities Inc. on their performance of Glengarry Glen Ross - The Tony award winning play and Pulitzer Prize winner by David Mamet, as the actors took the stage at the Namel-Malini Punchi theatre in Borella. The four evening shows and the matinee show on Saturday (due to popular demand) were all full-house and the audience were in awe right throughout from start to finish!

Identities Inc. - a performing and visual arts movement founded in 2014, is made up of various young individuals in the theatre/film circle of Sri Lanka specializing in different skills in the industry both on and off the stage. Glengarry Glen Ross – a proud production of the Identities Inc. was directed by Gehan Blok and the stellar cast starring - Dominic Kellar, Andre Perera, Shanaka Amarasinghe, Rajiv Ponweera, Dino Corea, Hans Bilimoria, Miranga Ariyaratne and Niren Neydorf.

Tough times hit the Chicago real-estate office where the salesmen (Shelley Levene, Ricky Roma, Dave Moss, and George Aaronow) were given a strong incentive by Blake (The motivator) to succeed in a ‘sales contest’. The prizes? First prize is a Cadillac El Dorado, second prize is a set of steak knives and third prize is “you're fired!”

There is no room for losers in this dramatically masculine world; only "closers" get the good sales leads. There is a lot of pressure to succeed, so a robbery is committed which has unforeseen consequences for all the characters in the play.

The play hit the faces of the audience instantly with its coarse language and brilliant acting. We were all completely zoned in as the actors brought forward real life problems dealt by men. People could relate to some of the characters well and it was definitely a reality check for all. It was amazing to witness what seems to have been some of the highest caliber of acting on stage and it must be highlighted that ‘Shelly Levene’ played by Dominic Kellar was a clear favourite among the audience on the opening night. He had the perfect balance between humour and the serious elements. We symapathised with the character’s earnestness at the latter part of the play. Overall, all of the actors and the production team and their collective efforts made Glengarry Glen Ross to be one of the best modern day scripts to convey the grit of life in its true raw form. Hats off to the team!

Comments taken from the audience during the interval

Chethana – It was very informative and entertaining. Overall, a nice change!

Ashani and Gimhani – So far it’s pretty good and very interesting. Dominic Kellar is amazing!

Dirk - It was very intense. The character Levene was played well.

Pravin - So far it’s great!

Indu – I am enjoying the show!

By Hasna Saleem
Pics by Nisal Baduge