Actor and director Jordan Pettle, 38, is reprising the role of John Williamson in a remount of Soulpepper Theatre Company’s production of David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize winning play Glengarry Glen Ross. (video)
Jordan Pettle, left, with Eric Peterson. [Cylla von Tiedemann photo]
The critically acclaimed and sold-out production from last season is currently on at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts in the Distillery Historic District until June 5.
“The play is set in Chicago in 1983, in a real estate office,” explains Pettle. “There is a sales contest going on as the play starts. Certain salesmen are worried about being axed from the company. It revolves around the manipulations and games that these guys do to make sales and screw each other around. It’s a vicious, volatile, macho world.”
Pettle says the play is also very funny—a dark comedy. He says Glengarry Glen Ross translates well in today’s world because unfortunately people are as vicious and manipulative as ever in certain worlds, especially when it comes to men competing against each other in certain aspects of society, especially the business world.
“John Williamson is the office manager – the authority figure in the office. He is loathed by the salesman because he doesn’t really have any practical experience in the field,” Pettle says.
Pettle says Glengarry Glen Ross is a great story, very entertaining with a mystery involved. He wants audiences to have a good time and to recognize themselves on some level, because he feels that is always the purpose of theatre.
“I am thrilled it is being remounted, it is one of the best experiences I have had working on a play,” Pettle says. “I love David Mamet, I always wanted to do his stuff, I did some of it in theatre school and to get a chance to do it for Soulpepper, which is a fantastic theatre company and with this company of actors…I feel, very, very lucky.”
The show, directed by David Storch, returns with its original cast which includes veteran thespian, Eric Peterson, Shelley Levene, Soulpepper’s artistic director Albert Schultz, Kevin Bundy, Peter Donaldson, Stephen Guy-McGrath and William Webster as George Aaranow.
Pettle says it has been heaven working with this cast. “I get to do a lot with Eric Peterson. I worked with Eric before in Picasso at the Lapin Agile for CanStage in 2001. I am a huge fan, it is a joy to work with him.”
Pettle is no stranger to the Soulpepper stage. His list of credits include Travesties, Glengarry Glen Ross and Waiting for Godot. He’s also appeared in TV and films.
Married to actress Shannon Perreault, who is currently in If We Were Birds at the Tarragon Theatre until May 23, the two are the parents of 8-month-old son Samuel. They will soon be heading to New York, where they will be performing in Ritter, Dene, Voss – an Austrian play by Thomas Bernhard.
Perreault originated her role for that play in the Toronto production for One Little Goat, and both performed the show in Chicago.
When Pettle isn’t onstage or looking after Sammy, he enjoys playing softball and poker and loves going to restaurants.
Tickets are available by calling the Young Centre box office at 416-866-8666 or by visiting www.soulpepper.ca.
