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Cadillac
By Bill Jepsen
Directed by Edward Sobel
At Chicago Dramatist
1105 W. Chicago Ave.
Chicago, IL
Call 312-633-0630, tickets $22 - $28
Thursdays thru Saturdays at 8 pm
Sundays at 3 pm
Running time is 1 hour, 40 minutes with intermission
Through February 24, 2008
Outstanding world premiere challenges our view of used car salesman
Chicago Dramatist Theatre, a superb incubator for playwrights, has another gem with Bill Jepsen’s Cadillac. Cadillac reminds me of David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross in that it depicts the rugged world of commission sales people. Playwright Bill Jepsen understands sales as he has sold used cars for a car rental company. He is also crafty playwright.
In his terrific new play, we meet Howard Austin (Craig Spidle) the Finance manager of Lindy Motors as he is closing a sale to a repeat costumer who finally is able to purchase his ‘dream’ car—a Cadillac. Howard is a smooth pro who understand the psychology of closing the sale. He treats every customer like they’re special not like the stereotypical used car guy. Howard values loyalty and service using ethical principles in a profession ripe with sharks and hucksters.
It is the last day of the month and Art (Rob Riley) is the old-timer sales pro who expounds all the sales clichés you’d expect from a veteran used car salesman. He sells 20+ cars per month mostly from his referral network. He has the company record of 31 sales in one month and Gary (Ian Forester), a young hot-shot needs one more sales today to tie that record and earn a $5,000 bonus. If Howard can get that Cadillac financed, Gary tires the record. Problem: the customer, despite lifelong good credit, now as a repo on his credit report due to him cosigning for his son on an auto loan. When Gary is late to work, Howard has Robin (Kathy Logelin) show that customer a cheaper car that he may be able to get financed. Lindy Motors’ policy is that whoever ‘writes’ the order, gets the commission. So once Howard gets the Cadillac customer financed for a lesser vehicle, Robin will end up with the sale—not Gary.
Robin (the only female salesman at Lindy Motors, needs 2 sales to reach her 10 car sales quota so she can keep her job. The action of the play covers one day at the dealership. Howard tries to teach Gary how to close a sale. In a terrific scene, we witness a professional sale close by Howard that places the buying question squarely on the prospect car buyer. At that point, Howard goes silent waiting for the prospect to answer---the silence puts pressure on the buyer to commit. Veteran sales pros know that the first one to speak loses. After a long silence, Gary speaks up and the sale is lost. Howard and Gary later ague over that incident.
There are more ethical debates and cleverly plausible plot twists in this well structured drama. Director Ed Sobel’s smooth pace nicely builds the tension as the plot plays out. Jepsen weaves sexual harassment and past mistakes from Howard putting him, Art and Robin’s loyalty and sense of honor to the test. When the customer returns to the dealership at the end of the day, Howard’s ethical dilemma unfolds.
Craig Spidle and Rob Riley anchor a fine cast. Bill Jepsen is a talented storyteller as exemplified by his tightly written Cadillac. This world premiere is most stage worthy. Kudos to Chicago Dramatist Theatre for nurturing another fine play.
Highly Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: January 27, 2008
Jeff Recommended
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