Michael Frayn did it with quantum mechanics, Simon McBurney did it with maths, now Lucy Prebble has done it with accounting. She and her director Rupert Goold have achieved the remarkable feat of making fiendish corporate fraud not just comprehensible to the layman but also dramatically exhilarating. Enron charts the rise and fall of the disgraced Texan energy company with brilliant theatrical flair.

High on power: Samuel West

But what really distinguishes the play is that it doesn’t just point the finger of criticism at business and bankers – which you might expect. It digs deeper than that. It transmits the thrill of innovation, of being on a roll, and conveys the allure and danger of greed. It draws us all into the bubble it creates. This is a specific story about a corrupt company, but also a parable for a credit-hungry era. And it probes into that Faustian drive that makes men overreach themselves.