Product Description

A paperback edition of award-winning dramatist David Mamet's acclaimed collection of theatre essays. Renowned playwright, screenwriter, poet and essayist David Mamet explains the necessity, purpose and demands of drama. A celebration of the ties that bind art to life, Three Uses of the Knife will enthral anyone who has sat anxiously waiting for the lights to go up on Act 1. In three tightly woven essays of characteristic force and resonance, Mamet speaks about the connection of art to life, language to power, imagination to survival, public spectacle to private script. Self-assured and filled with autobiographical touches Three Uses of the Knife is a call to art and arms, a manifesto that reminds us of the singular power of the theatre to keep us sane, whole and human. 'Mamet's writing is tight, spare, and as accurate and ruthless as a scalpel' Sunday Times

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #32010 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

Review
'Self-assured and filled with autobiographical touches... If you don't know his work, you have a surprise treat in store. I cannot commend highly enough this analysis of the cancers that he sees beleaguering the work of so many dramatists. Thank you Metheun for making this possible and all for a penny less than GBP10!' Amateur Stage (June 2007) 'A stimulating contribution to an important debate... An invigorating read - as stimulating as it is entertaining... His arguments are intruiging and enlightening... Mamet's contribution... is significant.' Reviews Gate (August 2007)

About the Author
David Mamet one of America's great dramatists and screenwriters. His plays include Oleanna; Glengarry Glen Ross, for which he won a Pulitzer Pri ze and a New York Drama Critics Circle Award; Speed-the-Plow; and Sexual Perversity in Chicago, among others. His films include, as screenwriter, The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Verdict, The Untouchables, The Edge and Wag the Dog, and as a writer/director, House of Games, Homicide, Things Change , The Spanish Prisoner and State and Main. He is also the author of children's books; books of essays; novels and a book on acting, True and False.

Customer Reviews

An incisive testament on behalf of drama
This offering from the blistering pen of David Mamet is a master document which brilliantly isolates and identifies both the need for, and the inner workings of, dramatic theatre. Actors, writers, directors, anyone in fact who carries a love of live drama (and most especially the Theatre) will find their work and/or understanding of such work deepened and enriched by this incisive unravelling of both why and how drama operates. Those who already hold an appreciation of Mamet's work will most certainly not be dissapointed. Writing in his trademark fashion of driving passion coupled with intellectual athleticism, the Pulitzer prizewinner presents clear, reasoned instruction for the aspiring dramatist - indeed, after reading this book one feels like a potential Chekhov! - and for the unconverted, resistant or uninformed he offers a passionate dialogue on the need of humankind for drama (and vice-versa), why it endures, and what purpose it serves. This is pure Mamet on fiery, driving, gutsy form. don't miss!

Informative & Entertaining
In a short, easy-to-read book, Mamet reveals, as the title suggests, "the nature and purpose of drama."

Less Is More
Short but magisterial overview of the structure and dynamics of drama and its relevance to the way human beings construct their view of the world. A must.