About the Play

The Anarchist is a full-length drama by David Mamet. Set in a female penitentiary, this two-hander examines themes of passion, deception, religion, and revolution in a psychological drama about an incarcerated one-time anarchist on the day of her possible parole and her battles with a prison officer, the woman who holds the key to her freedom.

The Anarchist is about a longtime inmate with ties to a violent political organization, who pleads for parole from her prison administrator. Cathy is a former member of an infamous group of anarchists who has served 35 years of her life sentence for killing two police officers in a politically motivated Weather Underground-like robbery. Ann is a prison psychologist who has the power to grant Cathy her freedom or condemn her to a life of imprisonment. Nothing is quite what it seems as Cathy attempts to convince Ann of her reformation. With a nod to his mentor, Harold Pinter, celebrated playwright David Mamet once again employs his signature verbal jousting in this psychological battle of wits and wills between intellectuals that exposes duelling philosophies and questionable motives.

The Anarchist premiered in 2012 at the Golden Theatre on Broadway in New York City, starring Patti LuPone (Broadway legend and two-time Tony Award-winner) and Debra Winger (making her Broadway debut). The play has been performed in regional repertory and college theatre productions.

Cast: 2 female

What people say:

"... for an intense, provocative 70 minutes, Mamet ... keeps us guessing ... The Anarchist leaves no shortage of material for after-theater debate" — USA Today

"Students of Mamet won't want to miss it; I was engaged and compelled throughout. Indeed, The Anarchist is a counterweight to the conventional dramatic tropes of family, love and death." — Chicago Tribune

"Being challenged to rethink your own perceptions and prejudices is a refreshing thrill of the sort that has otherwise been in short supply so far this season. It makes The Anarchist one of Mamet's most trenchant and timely offerings ever." — Talkin' Broadway

"The viewer experiences Mamet's signature rhythmic language. In what is like a ping-pong game, this battle of two women over freedom, power, money, religion – and the lack thereof, remains compelling during the eighty-five minutes it runs. Powerful, thought-provoking, and current." — LA Splash Magazine

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.