Oleanna
A Power Play
by David Mamet
directed by Preston Lane
October 18 – November 8, 2009
Every story has two sides.
When an unconventional professor tries to help a struggling female student who is failing his class, the end result is far beyond what either originally expected in this shocking case of “he said, she said.” What begins as a simple meeting behind closed doors leads to misinterpretations, accusations and a high-stakes struggle for power. This controversial play by David Mamet (creator of The Unit and author of Glengarry Glen Ross) promises to defy expectations and challenge opinions. Who is right; who is wrong? Who is to say in this examination of power, privilege and political correctness?
Running time: 75 minutes (with no intermission)
“Director Preston Lane wrings every drop of tension out of two people trying to plumb each other's psychological depths. Half the fun...is hearing the gasps and observing audience members unable to curtail their whispers as their eyes are riveted on the play.”
–Lynn Jessup, Classical Voice of North Carolina
Click here to read the full review
“The shocking climax is almost expected, but still leaves the audience breathless.“
–Keith Barber, YES! Weekly
Click here to read the full review
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Please note: This production contains adult language and themes.
Compositions by David E. Smith
Sound designer David E. Smith also composed the music for the scene transitions in our production.
Click here to listen to a sample of his composition.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
DAVID MAMET is a veritable juggernaut of American theater. His plays exhibit not only a visceral violence, but also a profound, influential significance. Divisive as much he is known for being insightful, the international stage both applauds him and debates him.
Mamet’s unique writing style is naturally brusque, and he often uses language as a weapon. Familiar for flourishing and unmasking male bravado in business and politics, he also has taken time to deal with family relationships in plays like The Cryptogram and Reunion, and—as in the play Boston Marriage—the ambiguous intimacy between women. Mamet also turns male-female relationships into a battleground in such plays as Sexual Perversity in Chicago and Oleanna.
The 2008 essay in The Village Voice entitled, “Why I Am No Longer a ‘Brain-dead Liberal,’” continued his role as a provocateur, earning him praise from conservatives and making him a lightning-rod for left-wing criticism. He is unabashed when being contrary in print, or in person.
He is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and an Academy Award®-nominated screenwriter as well as a director, novelist, poet, and essayist. He has written more than twenty plays that also include Speed-the-Plow, American Buffalo, November,and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Glengarry Glen Ross. His screenplays number more than twenty including State and Main, House of Games, Wag the Dog, his most recently released Red Belt,and the Oscar®-nominated The Verdict. Born in Chicago in 1947, Mamet went to Goddard College in Vermont; and he has also taught at Goddard, the Yale School of Drama, and New York University.
In addition, he lectures at the Atlantic Theater Company, which he helped co-found. Based in New York City and inspired by the Group Theater and Stanislavsky, the Atlantic Theater Company “believes that the story of a play and the intent of its playwright are at the core of the creative process.” The Atlantic Acting School, founded in 1983 and the other half of the theater’s mission, operates as both a private conservatory and an undergraduate program in conjunction with New York University. The school focuses on the “Practical Aesthetics” acting technique, which grew out of a series of NYU summer workshops in Vermont with playwright David Mamet and actor William H. Macy.
MAMET ON THEATER
“The surprise is half the battle. Many things are half the battle, losing is half the battle. Let’s think about what’s the whole battle.”
“I think that people, in circumstances of stress, can behave like swine, and that this, indeed, is not only a fit subject, but the only subject, of drama.”
“People may or may not say what they mean...but they always say something designed to get what they want.”
“When you come into the theater, you have to be willing to say, ‘We’re all here to undergo a communion, to find out what the hell is going on in this world.’ If you’re not willing to say that, what you get is entertainment instead of art, and poor entertainment at that.”
“The avant-garde is to the left what jingoism is to the right. Both are a refuge in nonsense.”
“The subject of drama is The Lie. At the end of the drama THE TRUTH—which has been overlooked, disregarded, scorned, and denied—prevails. And that is how we know the Drama is done.”
OLEANNA/OLEANA
Norway’s first international star, Ole Bull, was a 19th century violinist and Norwegian nationalist. In the 1850’s, Bull tried to establish a utopian community in Pennsylvania including a village named after himself and his mother: Oleana. The failure of his utopian vision is mocked in the Norwegian folk song “Oleanna,” and was translated and made popular in the US by Pete Seeger.
“OLEANNA” |
Ole, oleanna, ole, oleanna Oh to be in Oleanna, Little roasted piggies Beer as sweet as muncheners In Oleanna land is free |
