Sydney’s New Theatre presents Mamet classic
Lies. Greed. Corruption. It’s business as usual in the cut-throat world of real estate sales in the New Theatre’s production of David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross.
This pack of wolves will do anything to score the prime ‘leads’. They’re grinding out a living pushing plots of land onto reluctant buyers in a never-ending scramble for their share of the American dream.
Flattery, bribery, threats, intimidation, burglary; as their desperation reaches fever-pitch they will engage in unethical, even illegal, behaviour if it’ll snag them a sale and that all-important commission.
The mantra is simple: Close the deal and you’ve won a Cadillac; blow the lead and you’re f****d.
David Mamet’s satire won the 1983 Olivier Award for Best Play and the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was later adapted by the playwright into a film starring Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, Alec Baldwin, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Kevin Spacey and Jonathan Pryce.
Originally written for an all-male cast, this production will blur the gender lines to reveal insights into Mamet’s depiction of blunt, brutal, toxic masculinity.
New Theatre's Artistic Director Louise Fischer is in the director's seat, following on from her recent productions of two other modern American classics: The Grapes of Wrath and August: Osage County. "Mamet's play has become such a classic in the theatrical canon that I felt a little overawed when taking it on," says Louise. "What's been fascinating to explore are the underlying fears, insecurities and desires of the characters, which are very real and recogisable. The play is far more than just 'men behaving badly'; it's a profoundly insightful study of people thrust into a particularly stressful situation: in this case, the huge pressure to 'close the deal'. The play was written for an all-male cast. Of her decision to gender-swap some of the roles, Louise explains: "I wanted to revisit this classic through an new prism, to underscore that it's still relevant today. In the play, the real estate agents are the great seducers; clinching the deal provides a similar euphoria to making a sexual conquest. I wanted to push this metaphor further. There have been productions that cast all the characters as women, but I felt that a gender mix would be far more challenging and create a sexual tension which, we have discovered, is actually present in the text. The result has been some very "interesting" moments in rehearsals." The cast consists of New Theatre alums Adrian Adam (August: Osage County; Hay Fever), Ben Brock (House of Games), Mark Langham (House of Games, Book of Days), Caroline Levien (The Heidi Chronicles, The Diary of Anne Frank), Hannah Raven (The Women), Meg Shooter (Angry Fags), Andrew Simpson (The Grapes of Wrath, Collaborators), and making his New Theatre debut, NIDA graduate Oliver Burton, whose 'other life' is spent as a real estate auctioneer and buyer's agent! Season: 16 March - 10 April 2021 Performance times: Preview Tue 16 March 7:30pm Press Night Wed 17 March 7:30pm Thur – Sat 7:30pm Sun 5pm Final performance Sat 10 April 2pm No performance Good Friday, 2 April Ticket prices: Full $35, Concessions, Groups (6+) $30, Thrifty Thursdays $22, Preview $20 Bookings : https://aunewtheatre.sales.ticketsearch.com/sales/salesevent/6349