In David Mamet’s latest play, a male college instructor and his female student sit down to discuss her grades and in a terrifyingly short time become the participants in a modern reprise of the Inquisition. Innocuous remarks suddenly turn damning. Socratic dialogue gives way to heated assault. And the relationship between a somewhat fatuous teacher and his seemingly hapless pupil turns into a fiendishly accurate X ray of the mechanisms of power, censorship, and abuse.
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"David Mamet has raised outrage to an art form. . . . Oleanna is…a scorcher. The woods are burning, and all of us are being seared in the fire.”—Boston Globe
“Mamet’s clenched fist to the gut—and intellect…a vicious and timely riff on sexual harassment and political correctness. Pinter, Albee, Miller. They’re all looking over Mamet’s shoulder.”—New York
“Wholly absorbing…a virtuoso performance…As if ripped right from the typewriter, it could not be more direct in its technique or incendiary in its ambition. . . . Oleanna is likely to provoke more arguments than any other play this year.”—The New York Times
“Our foremost master of the language of moral epilepsy.”—Newsweek
About the Author
David Mamet is a dramatist, director, novelist, poet, and essayist. He has written the screenplays for more than twenty films, including Heist, Spartan, House of Games, The Spanish Prisoner, The Winslow Boy, Wag the Dog, and The Verdict. His more than twenty plays include Oleanna, The Cryptogram, Speed-the-Plow, American Buffalo, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Glengarry Glen Ross. Born in chicago in 1947, Mamet has taught at the Yale School of Drama, New York University, and Goddard College, and he lectures at the Atlantic Theater Company, of which he is a founding member.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Inflammatory and fascinating,
This review is from: Oleanna: A Play (Paperback)
David Mamet's Oleanna was polarizing when it premiered on Broadway--audiences tended to sympathize with one character and hate the other.The experience of reading Oleanna rather than seeing it is a rewarding one. The play features two characters: John, a professor up for tenure, and Carol, his student. Each of these characters is in the midst of their own problems when we meet them in the first act--John is arguing with his wife and in the midst of buying a new house (as a celebration of his impending tenure), and Carol is desperately trying not to fail John's class. When the show opens, Carol has come to John to ask him not to fail her--unfortunately, John is on and off the phone with his realtor and his wife and barely pays attention to Carol. This is the setup from which the rest of the play unravels. Ultimately, Carol accuses John of sexual harassment--and, although it is easy to say that John never propositions Carol, the reader can see where Carol might have gotten that idea. John, in his haste to leave, says and does things that in retrospect (the second act) seem like mistakes. Each is a full and fascinating character--John stands on the brink of losing everything that has ever mattered to him, and Carol becomes an ardent feminist activist in the third act. To say more would be a spoiler. This play is a fascinating character study, examining academia, language, and the startling effect of bad communication. A brilliant and biting play.
21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
David Mamet's Masterpiece,
By Michael Crane (Orland Park, IL USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Oleanna: A Play (Paperback)
Known most for his unique drama "Glengarry Glen Ross," David Mamet has written another masterpiece of a play. "Oleanna" is an unforgettable play that will leave you unsure of who's side you're on until the last remaining moments that will stay with you for a long time.The story is very simple, or it starts out simple. It all starts as an innocent meeting between a school teacher and his female student. He knows there's been problems with her doing well in the class, so he offers to help. Then before you know it, everything goes to hell and shortly there are accusations of sexism, abuse of power, and sexual harassment. This is play that will mess with your head, leaving you unsure of who is in the right, if any of them are. I was hooked from the very first page. As soon as I started, I couldn't put it down, and I had no idea of where it was heading. What's great is that it reads very quickly. It's short but accomplishes what it's trying to do. Once again Mamet has a talent of capturing human behavior and reflecting it back through his writing. He can take the simplest conflict and magnify it a hundred times. And once again he is able to catch us off guard when it counts the most. "Oleanna" is a must-read for anyone who enjoys reading plays, or just reading in general. Like I said, it's very short so chances are that as soon as you start it you'll be able to finish it in no time. You'll be sad when it's over so quickly, but will be happy to re-read it again and again. A terrific masterpiece that is beautifully written and structured on every front, David Mamet's "Oleanna" is a breathtaking read.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Envy, Greed, and Political Correctness,
By A Customer
This review is from: Oleanna: A Play (Paperback)
I have seen three separate productions of David Mamet's controversial two-hander "Oleanna", and the audience has been driven into polarized frenzy each time. Mamet correctly assumes that the engines that drive contemporary society are envy and greed, and his corrosive attack on the verbal manipulations of political correctness is razor-sharp. Mamet's use of language is extraordinary and in this play -- for a change -- the characters are educated, white-collar academics, not filthy-mouthed lowlifes. Obscenity, however, takes many forms. Do yourself a favour: when you take this book home, READ IT ALOUD with someone else. You will discover that "Oleanna" is a passionate, provocative, and powerful piece of theatre.
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