Renowned playwright and screenwriter David Mamet spares nothing in this blistering critique of politicians, particularly American progressives. The Secret Knowledge is an entertaining and surprising telling of Mamet's ideological awakening, and he writes with the fierce urgency of a recent conver...
Excerpt from a reflection:"It is very plain in reading the play that Mamet has given almost no stage direction; he limits the creation of dramatic tension to the field of dialogue, forcing the audience to take any meaning from only the words that are spoken and the messages that may or may not be...
Imagine an Enlightenment thinker, sitting on his drawing room chair sometime in the 18th century, wets his pants so hard at the idea of the mind-body dichotomy he enters a time loop directly into post-Stanislavski America, somehow becoming a playwright in the process. He would be David Mamet, and...
First staged in Chicago in 1975, this gritty drama by David Mamet explores issues of business, friendship, and loyalty among three members of the urban underclass. Donnie is a middle-aged owner of a junk shop, Bobby is his young protégé, apparently a recovering addict who idolizes Donnie and wan...
In regards to the plot, a movie producer named Gould is debating with his friend and colleague the importance of money versus art. Though the two agree that it is "art" that is most important, it is clear that money is what rules both of their lives. The rising action occurs when Gould bets his f...
THE CRYPTOGRAM. (1995). David Mamet. ***.tI was half-way through the first act before I began to realize what might be going on in this drama. You know Mamet and his ways…you gotta be there. Mamet has a style that is vibrant. It is like listening to real people talking on the street. Chara...
I was, for some unknown reason, moved by and sort of obsessed with the film "About Last Night" when I was a kid. For better or worse (probably worse), this flawed but still unique and underrated Brat-Packer film, set in 80's Chicago - shaped my ideas of adult sexuality. The way Demi Moore (flat a...
Very good play on the orginal Faustus. It uses the tricks that Mamet loves. It has a hidden unread book, an idea that we sort of understand and imagine its implcations. Faustus makes his choices and has the same aims as the orginal Fautus but Mamet looks at the implciation of choice and decisi...
Five unique short plays for television by one of America’s most celebrated playwrights. A 'Waitress in Yellowstone' (or: 'Always Tell the Truth') is a parable about an honest waitress and a corrupt congressman. In Bradford, a new police chief arriving in a small New England town is plunged into t...
Mamet, David. GOLDBERG STREET: Short Plays & Monologues. (1985). **. In his introduction to this volume, Mamet explains that these short pieces were written in between his major efforts, especially when he got to some blockage. These off-the-cuff works kept him busy until his Muse came back to hi...
In these two moving early plays, David Mamet displays the humor, sensitivity, and ear for language that have made him one of the most celebrated playwrights in American theater today. Reunion depicts the awkward, tender meeting between a father and a daughter drawn together by their loneliness a...
David Mamet's new Oval Office satire depicts one day in the life of a beleaguered American commander-in-chief. It's November in a Presidential election year, and incumbent Charles Smith's chances for reelection are looking grim. Approval ratings are down, his money's running out, and nuclear war ...
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CAROL is seated across the desk from him. JOHN (on phone): And what about the land. (Pause) The land. And what about the land? (Pause) What about it? (Pause) No. I don’t understand. Well, yes, I’m I’m … no, I’m sure it’s signif … I’m sure it’s significant. (Pause) Because it’s significant to mmmm...
Except for brief passages quoted in newspaper, magazine, radio or television reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing...
BOB and JOLLY. JOLLY: “If you don’t want it …” BOB: “No, no, no, I like it.” JOLLY: “Waal, if you don’t like it, you can take it back.” BOB: “Hike it.” JOLLY: “Waal. If you don’t. If you find …” BOB: “No, I Like it. I do. I think that it’s …” JOLLY: “Waal, your mother and I, only want to say …” B...
Nicholas Theater Company, at Goddard College, Plainfield, Vermont, in 1972, with the folělowing cast: EMIL VARěC Pablo Vela GEORGE S. ARONOVITZ Peter Vincent It was directed by David Mamet; set and lighting by Jim Drake. It was first produced off-off Broadway at St. Clements Theatre, New York Cit...
The JUDGE is on the bench. The DEFENDANT is being interrogated by a PROSECUTOR. The DEFENSE ATTORNEY sits at the defense bench. A BAILIFF stands at the side. PROSECUTOR: Who is this …? (All turn to sound of siren—as of motorcade passing in the streets)) PROSECUTOR: Who is the person in the hotel ...
—JOHN LEE BEATTY Dramatis Personae MUSEUM GUIDE ALBERT LITKO RUDY PIERRE JOHN CLORIS TIMMY O‘SHEA HARRY STOSH ZABISCO BO LUND LARS SVENSON DIETER GROSS POLICEMAN SECOND POLICEMAN POTAWATAMIES FARMERS MINERS A helicopter shot of the Museum of Science and Industry. MUSEUM GUIDE (voice over): . ...
I felt the cold steel of a gun against my head three times. Twenty-six years we have been here. A tailor fourteen years before that here. Fifty-one years. And he's an Orthodox Jew, and his father said (when he was managing: when first we settled on a price; and, you know, we negotiated . . . bu...
—E. M. Forster, Howards End, 1910 Most legislation aimed at eliminating unhappiness and discontent has resulted in misery. Human beings are flawed, and as unlikely to create contentment with amended or increased legislation as they were to create perfect legislation in the first place. The best...
Jack, Henry, Charles and Susan onstage. HENRY: Sit down. (Charles holds an overcoat, which Susan takes from him. Charles sits.) You want to tell me about black folks? I’ll help you: O.J. Was guilty. Rodney King was in the wrong place, but the police have the right to use force. Malcolm X. Was...