Act Now! ably captures 'Glengarry's' darkness

David Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross" is "Jaws" with human sharks -- a feeding frenzy of greed that makes for disturbing, but thoroughly gripping, theater.

And, done well, as it is in the Act Now! production currently playing at Walnut Creek's Lesher Center, the carnal tragicomedy of real estate sharks becomes a sharp and memorable experience that plies the lower depths of human avarice and cruelty.

Director Stephen Murphree has taken a no-prisoners approach to the show, going for little of the humor that can be wrought from Mamet's script. Instead, he allows the laughs to come almost grudgingly, as bitter irony rather than relief from the desperate situation the real estate salesmen find themselves living through.

The team of salesmen are pros who will do anything to sell a plot of land; it's a fact taken to heart by those they work for. The idea here is that the top salesman wins a Cadillac, the second place finisher gets steak knives and the rest lose their jobs. Those involved in the race want nothing but first. It isn't just their livelihood; their very manhood is dependent on finishing first and vanquishing the rest.

They are salesmen who aren't worth a dime unless they can close the sale. And except for the current top dog Richard Roma (Rich Aiello), times are tough for everyone.

The times have hit aging veteran Shelly Levene (John Gibson), "The Machine," harder than the rest. He's an old-timer who, over the years, has spent more time at the top than anyone -- a fact he's trying to impress on the current boss, the young John Williamson (Rick Robinson Jr.). John appears to have more than a work relationship with the older man, but Shelly is reduced to begging him for leads. Shelly even offers to buy the leads and promises John a cut of the commission. John simply teases him, holding out the leads, then yanking them away.

Two other salesmen, Dave Moss (John Hale) and George Arnow (Bob Lieberman), complain bitterly and plot to steal the leads.

The rage in all the men steams like a tropical jungle, and the atmosphere blows up into a robbery of the real estate office with each man, except for John, a suspect.

Then you watch as the world slowly crumbles for all of them. Shelly finds out his sale will go south. Even Richard's customer, James Lingk (Joe Guistino), gets cold feet at the behest of his wife. And everything gets more and more ominous as the policeman, Baylen (Jerry Blair), tightens the investigative noose.

While in a lot of ways the piece seems like a slice of life, it actually tells a delightful cautionary tale in 95 minutes.

Mamet's writing appears deceptively easy to perform. But with its stops and starts and disjointed thoughts, it is extremely difficult to bring off with any sort of reality. The Act Now! cast, however, uniformly does the dialog tremendous credit, even in an opening monologue (from the film of the play) by Blake (Adam Saslow), which sets the grim tone for the piece. The principals in the show, particularly Gibson and Aiello, are simply stunning.

Director Murphree has given the piece a lightning quick pace on a bare-bones set to make this production one of Act Now's strongest, and one of the best small shows of the season.