The story behind the rise and rise and subsequent collapse of an American energy giant would probably not be the kind of material you’d expect a British playwright and theatre company to spin theatrical gold from. But that is exactly what Lucy Prebble and Headlong Theatre, led by artistic director Rupert Goold, did with Enron.

The play may have failed on Broadway but it took the Royal Court and the West End by storm and now Richmond Theatre audiences will get a chance to catch one of the most talked-about productions of the last ten years as it calls in on the venue for a five-day run next week.

Enron is a dazzling theatrical experience as puppets, light sabres and motorbikes vie for space and red-eyed dinosaurs prowl the stage – it’s an all-guns-blazing approach that is a hallmark of Goold’s directorial style.

“I have a low boredom threshold and so I tend to throw lots of stuff at productions,” he says.

“We were aware a play about an accountancy scandal could be dull so we always wanted to get underneath the subject with the theatricality. Though what has been slightly overlooked is that the scenes have been really well written by Lucy.”

While Enron pulls no punches in its portrayal of the men directly responsible for the scandal – Enron’s chief executive Jeffrey Skilling, chief financial officer Andy Fastow and chairman Kenneth Lay – Goold says the play aims to do more than simply blame the individuals involved.

“People do blame the Bernie Madoffs or the Jeffrey Skillings and just write them off but what we are really looking at is the system,” he says.

“We are not criticising capitalism but if you have a financial sector that is always pushing at the regulations then at times, by definition, they will break.”

Goold, commonly regarded as one of the most exciting theatre directors in the country, ran the Royal and Derngate Theatres in Northampton from 2000 to 2005, before directing an acclaimed, blood-spattered version of Macbeth starring Patrick Stewart in 2007.

Since 2006 he has been the artistic director of Headlong, a theatre company that prides itself on creating “exhilarating, provocative and original touring theatre.”

The company recently brought a full-throttle version of Wilde’s Salome to Richmond and, along with Enron, Goold is pleased to be taking challenging theatre to regional venues.

He says: “Regional theatres tend to receive revivals of famous plays with big stars in them and it is hard for new plays because people don’t necessarily want to book a ticket for a play they don’t know anything about.

"We went back to Chichester with Enron [where the production premiered] and it is a huge theatre with 1,200 seats but every one was sold and I was extremely proud to do that with a play that feels urgent.”

Enron, Richmond Theatre, September 28 - October 2, for more ticket prices and booking information, visit ambassadortickets.com/richmond-theatre