As Hampstead Theatre announced on Twitter that Dry Powder is now completely sold out, another good review for the show has been posted by iNewspaper and is available to read via press reader
Sarah Burgess’s clued-up, razor-sharp comedy is set in the cut-throat world of high finance and scrutinises a private equity firm that’s being forced to grapple with the notion of equity in its broader, ethical sense. Is running a business still purely a matter of maximising profits? Or should a firm play a different game and take its social responsibilities into account, thus winning favour in the court of public opinion?
Anna Ledwich directs a slick production and Hayley Atwell relishes in conveying the conscience-free capitalist zealotry of firm director Jenny. According to her, free enterprise may not suit weak people, but it’s beautifully fair in that “it asks nothing of you but that you show up and join the competition”.
There’s a lot that’s impressive, but I ended up feeling the debate is rigged and that Burgess’s verbal astringency has been put in the service of preaching to the choir.
