Product Description

"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." (Michael Wise, Independent)In Oleanna "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." (Frank Rich, International Herald Tribune)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #174504 in Books
• Published on: 1998-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback

Review
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. Frank Rich, 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. Michael Wise, Independent

About the Author
David Mamet is one of the most distinctive voices on the contemporary American stage. He was born and had his first and many subsequent plays premiere in Chicago. His screenplays include: The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Verdict, The Untouchables, We're No Angels and Glengarry Glen Ross; he was writer and director for House of Games, Things Change and Homicide.

Customer Reviews

Inflammatory and fascinating
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.

Envy, Greed, and Political Correctness
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.

Oleana: The Loss of cordiality
I am not sure if David Mamet wrote "Oleana" in response to Anita Hill's accusations against Clarence Thomas, but, his insightful portrayal of how some feminist activists sometimes misuses men as a means to accomplish their agenda would be humorous were it not truly sad. Mamet critiques several relationships in this play including that of humans to humans. In the final analysis of the sexual harassment situation demonstrated in the play, Mamet illustrates how cruel humans can be to one another. Can there really be interest in and cordiality between men and women, student and professor? Does there alwyas have to be or assumed to be some sexual tension or inuendo going on? Or has the declining morals in society dictated that in age of uncertainity and suspicion, people must distance themselves from one another for fear that words, gestures, and intensions can be totally miscontrued and taken out context?