Oleanna

Synopsis

When a college Professor agrees to meet a struggling student behind closed doors, their conversation yields only mutual misunderstanding...and an unexpected charge. As their antipathy turns ugly, it destroys lives, derails careers and ultimately leads to a cataclysmic event that no one could have expected. The play was presented at the Royal Court in 1993 with David Suchet and Lia Williams, and directed by Harold Pinter.

Our Review:

23 April 2004

When it was first produced in the US exactly 12 years ago, and was subsequently seen at the Royal Court in a new production a year later, David Mamet’s Oleanna quickly became more than just a play. It was a cultural beacon – a talking point in itself, around which a fierce debate would rage.

Mamet has himself said it became “a succes de scandale, a handy French phase meaning everyone was so enraged by it that everyone had to see it”.

It remains one of the most combustible, combative plays of its decade, a taut, fraught and inflammatory work about the power and meaning of words, in an age of ‘political correctness’, and how their interpretation can become tools of manipulation, power and even violence, weapons to be vigorously wielded.

But aren’t we over it now? As performers like Ricky Gervais comically subvert the PC culture, haven’t we moved on? Not if a story in the Evening Standard on ...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com (217.35.141.121) - 15 July 2004:

Julia Styles was faultless in this intriguing play. First act left me thinking what the hell is this all about, but act 2 and 3 had me gripped and I really hated Julia's character.. what an impact at the end as well. ...

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