I don’t know where to begin. Junk was a phenomenal show and the team behind it really put effort into every. single. detail.
Let’s begin with the actors. It is hard to think who acted the best because all of them were so good. The plot of this play was quite corporate and the actors carried the theme of the play well.
They spoke dialogues in a believable tone such that I could see real CEOs speaking like that. Their strong delivery also made it stage-worthy. They combined the best of both worlds to up the stakes of the story.
Another star of the show was the set design. I have rarely seen such a well-integrated setup. The set was designed perfectly. It wasn’t meant to be beautiful but to go complement the plot. And complement the plot it did. They had lightboxes that synced up fast-paced music and blinked. It reminded me of stockbroking and the 80s architectural design. The audience also got to see the set being dismantled when a company lost its financing. To see that happen at the very end was just amazing. It reminded me of how important people working behind the scenes of a show are.
The techniques used in the play for phone conversations were nice and brought out the interconnectedness of the characters in the play. The costumes were well designed and fit the 1980s period (the play is set in 1985). Despite the play being set in the 80s, it had a topic as relevant as could be. Its similarities to the 2008 financial crisis and the chaos of the Gamestop situation reminded the audience of the stakes involved when people play around with stocks.
I really liked the ending of the play (I won’t spoil it for you). It highlighted how much money rules everybody. Some accept the cards they’ve been dealt with, some try to hack the system, and so on. The protagonist tries to hack the system and we see how he too gets trapped by it and it’s all a game of numbers. The system speaks in another language and only some can understand it and those who do try to get to the top. Others might have different interpretations of the ending but I think it was about the irrationality of who gets the most money.
The show got a standing ovation from the audience so you know everyone loved it. It showed a lot about the financial world and the power of money without being too dramatic or obvious. It was a great show!
