Serious Money

Synopsis

The trading floors and boardrooms of 1980s London burst with frenetic energy as traders and corporate raiders chase astronomical profits.

Corman, an ambitious corporate raider, sets his sights on acquiring Albion Products with the help of his banker Zac and an array of colorful characters from the financial world. As the hostile takeover bid unfolds, we follow the machinations of insider traders, arbitrageurs, and corrupt officials. Meanwhile, Scilla, a young trader at LIFFE, investigates her brother Jake’s suspicious death, uncovering a web of deceit that reaches the highest levels of government and finance.

Churchill’s biting satire employs rapid-fire dialogue, overlapping scenes, and musical interludes to capture the dizzying pace and moral bankruptcy of 1980s financial excess. The play’s sprawling cast of characters, from city traders to Peruvian drug lords, illuminates the global reach of unchecked capitalism. Through a mix of verse, song, and naturalistic dialogue, Churchill explores themes of greed, corruption, and the dehumanizing effects of market forces. The farcical tone belies a scathing critique of Thatcherite economics and the erosion of social values in pursuit of profit.