Product Description

Mamet's criticism of American society, theatrical inventiveness, images of alienation and betrayal, sensitivity to language, and continuing productivity make him one of today's leading playwrights. This critical collection of eight original essays and two recently published essays by noted American and European scholars, including Ruby Cohn, Michael Hinden, Dennis Carroll, Steven Gale, and Chris Hudgins, examines David Mamet's development from the beginning of his career to the present. Structural and thematic essays provide a comprehensive overview of his work in theatre and film through such diverse approaches as aesthetics, linguistic strategies, communal vision, recurring paradigms, comedic structure and purpose, influences of classical and Renaissance drama, and feminist perspectives. Additionally, interviews conducted during 1990 with director Gregory Mosher, who has directed more than 12 Mamet plays, and actor Joe Mantegna, who in 15 years has starred in A Life in the Theatre , Glengarry Glen Ross , Speed-the-Plow , Things Change , and Homicide , offer insights about the writer and his work.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #123240 in Books
• Published on: 1999-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 278 pages

Review
"A necessary collection about a most necessary playwright."
-Choice

From the Back Cover
The 12 original and two classic essays offer a dialectic on performance and structure, and substantially advance our knowledge of this seminal playwright. The commentaries examine feminism, pernicious nostalgia, ethnicity, the mythological land motif, the discourse of anxiety, gendered language, and Mamet's vision of America, providing insights on the theatricality, originality, and universality of the work. Although the dominant focus is on Glengarry Glen Ross, several essays look at the play against the background of Mamet's Edmund, Reunion, and American Buffalo, whereas others find fascinating parallels in Emerson, Baudrillard, Conrad, Miller, and Churchill. The book also includes an interview with Sam Mendes, the director of the highly acclaimed 1994 revival of Glengarry Glen Ross in London, conducted specifically for this collectio. A chronology of major productions and the most current and comprehensive bibliography of secondary references from 1983-1995 complete the volume.