Enron
February 3, 2012 by bweir123Theatre Calgary tackles the sleaziest white-collar scandal of the century with an adaptation of playwright Lucy Prebble’s (soon-to-be-a-movie) Enron. Here’s all you need to know to impress fellow theatregoers with your corporate-crime savvy.
Worth Millions in the Morning, Nothing by Afternoon
The collapse of the energy giant was decades in the making. Starting in 1985 when Ken Lay (spoiler alert: Lay died before his 2006 sentencing date) became CEO of Enron—love-child of Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth—things got dirty as the Missouri preacher’s son hid debts right off the hop. From there he, along with Jeffrey Skilling and Andy Fastow, relied on creative accounting to inflate shares and cover losses. According to the book Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, “The Enron scandal grew out of a steady accumulation of habits and values and actions that began years before and finally spiraled out of control.” A poseur might pepper the conversation with Lay quotes such as: “Am I a fool? I don’t think I’m a fool. But I think I sure was fooled.”
The Fear of Loss Is a Path to the Dark Side
Yoda said it, but listen they did not. Enron’s brand of “future value accounting” led CFO Fastow to create shell companies to keep losses off the books. These companies were named after Star Wars characters: Kenobe Inc., JEDI, Obi-1 Holdings and Chewco Investments. Further your poseur cred by mentioning that, due to his ruthless ways, Skilling was known behind his back as Darth Vader.
Lights Out
One of the most notorious money-making schemes employed by Enron involved creating an energy crisis in California by manipulating the supply of electricity to raise energy prices. Blackouts ensued.
Fortune Teller
Fortune magazine bestowed the title “America’s Most Innovative Company” on Enron six years running. In 2010, they ran a jailhouse interview with Skilling. The former president asked the interviewer to buy him a coffee as he wasn’t allowed to handle money in jail. Prove your poseur mettle by asking for a free cuppa from the concession stand at intermission.
Theatre Calgary presents Enron Tuesday, Jan. 31 to Sunday, Feb. 19. At Max Bell THeatre, Epcor Centre. 403-294-7440, theatrecalgary.com.
