About
the Play:
Oleanna was
named by the Royal National Theatre of Britain as one of the top 100
plays of the 20th century.
Oleanna has long been a favourite of acting teachers for Female Monologues, Male Monologues and Female/Male Scenes.
Oleanna is a full-length drama
by David Mamet. A female student charges her male professor
with sexual harassment in David Mamet's drama, which examines
explosive contemporary issues – the assumption of power,
intellectual freedom and sexual politics. Oleanna is a seething investigation of
"political correctness" in a time when morality has been
tested by increased incidents of sexual harassment.
Oleanna deals with haunting
and difficult themes of sexual harassment, student/teacher
relationships and political correctness. David Mamet's
dual-character play focuses on a college student, Carol, who drops by
her professor's office in an effort to gain his help to do better in
class. John, the professor, in the midst of buying a house to
celebrate his nomination for tenure, at first seems distant. Over the
course of three encounters, David Mamet begs the audience to
question what it means to be right or wrong. As the first meeting
progresses the two discuss the nature of understanding and judgment
in society, as well as their very own natures and places in our
society. It seems as if a bond has been made. When next they meet we
find that a report has been filed to the tenure committee. Carol has
joined a "group" and has decided that John sexually
harassed her during their first meeting. Their second meeting
dissects the first; every word, every nuance of the first meeting has
been twisted into something else. Or has it? John's unsuccessful
attempts to convince Carol to retract her accusation escalate to a
more dangerous level. The third meeting, one the court officers
warned against, climaxes violently, leaving John and Carol both
physically and emotionally devastated. The questions and conflict
raised by this volatile drama are more relevant today than ever
before and will ignite discussion and debate. Did a crime take place?
Is Carol's eventual charge the only way of regaining power over John?
Is the truth even relevant after such an accusation?
Oleanna premiered in 1992 at the American Repertory Theater
in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Its New York premiere was in 1992
Off-Broadway at The Orpheum Theatre in New York City. Some of the
many other notable major productions of Oleanna include the
London premiere in 1993 at The Royal Court Theatre, the Australian
premiere in 1993 with the Sydney Theatre Company and a London revival
at the Garrick Theatre in 2004. The
play has become a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and
workshops and is regularly performed in regional repertory, college,
and community theatre productions.
Cast : 1 female, 1 male
What people say:
"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
Magazine
"John and Carol go to it with
hand-to hand combat that amounts to a primal struggle for power. As
usual with Mamet, the vehicle for that combat is crackling, highly
distilled dialogue unencumbered by literary frills or phony
theatrical ones." — International Herald Tribune
"An ear for reproducing
everyday language has long been David Mamet's
hallmark and he has now employed it to skewer the dogmatic,
puritannical streak which has become commonplace on and off the
campus. With Oleanna he continues an exploration
of male-female conflicts begun with Sexual Perversity in Chicago in
1974. Oleanna cogently demonstrates that when
free thought and dialogue are imperilled, nobody wins." —
The Independent (London)
"…wholly absorbing — a
typically virtuoso display of Mr. Mamet's gift for locking the
audience inside the violent drama of his characters… Oleanna
is likely to provoke more arguments than any play this year."
— New York Times
"One of the ten best plays of
1992 … reason enough to cheer for the future of the theatre."
— Time Magazine
"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."
— The Boston Globe
About the Playwright:
David Mamet is a Pulitzer
Prize-winning playwright and an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter
as well as a director, novelist, poet, and essayist. He has written
the screenplays for more than twenty films, including the
Oscar-nominated The Verdict. His more than twenty plays
include the Pulitzer Prizewinning Glengarry Glen Ross. His
other awards include a Tony Award, an Academy Award, two OBIE Awards,
two NYDCC Awards, and Outer Circle, Society of West End Theatre, and
Dramatists Guild Hall-Warriner Awards.