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MISSION: La Jolla Playhouse advances theatre as an art form and as a vital social, moral and political platform by providing unfettered creative opportunities for the leading artists of today and tomorrow. With our youthful spirit and eclectic, artist-driven approach, we will continue to cultivate a local and national following with an insatiable appetite for audacious and diverse work. In the future, San Diego’s La Jolla Playhouse will be considered singularly indispensable to the worldwide theatre landscape, as we become a permanent safe harbor for the unsafe and surprising. The day will come when it will be essential to enter the La Jolla Playhouse village in order to get a glimpse of what is about to happen in American theatre.
La Jolla Playhouse has received highest ratinghas fromreceived Charity the La the Jolla Playhouse Navigator, the nation’s premier highest rating from Charity Navigator, charity evaluator. the nation’s premier charity evaluator. P2 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe
OUR MISSION OUR MISSION
A MESSAGE FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Dear Friends: American salespeople can talk anybody into buying anything. One of the great pleasures of Glengarry Glen Ross, David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, is watching its amazing Chicago real estate salesmen not only sell parcels of dubious real estate, but also sell themselves. Their dazzling displays of precise language swirl and spin like hot jazz as they tailor their sales pitches into dreamlike visions of opportunity and prosperity. Using charm, skill and imagination, they lure their victims with the power of the riff, improvising and free associating from moment to moment in “Mametspeak.” What they and their prospects don’t realize is that the dream is unattainable. The system — the American Machine — is rigged and, like all who are addicted to the game, Mamet’s men don’t know when or how to leave the room. While savagely funny, the experience of watching Glengarry Glen Ross is about as stark as any play I know. With both homage and indictment, it portrays the dynamics of American business and its effects on the worker as a “No Exit” situation in which they’re perpetually striving and never arriving. But we can’t help but feel affection for Mamet’s salesmen. As untrustworthy as they are, there’s an honesty to how they live and die by the language that defines them and the gusto with which they embrace American capitalism at its best and worst. They’re out to make a dollar and proud of how they do it. Mamet’s salesmen live somewhere among the anti-heroes and villains of Pinter, Beckett, Ionesco, The Lord of the Flies and Taxi, but they’re never less than human. Glengarry Glen Ross debuted in 1982 in the midst of a real estate crisis very similar to the one we’re experiencing today. This great American play is timelier than ever.
Rehearsal artist
MICHAEL ARTHUR joined us for Glengarry Glen Ross and captured the process of bringing this play to life at La Jolla Playhouse.
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THE COMPANY matt mACnelly, Baylen UCSD Credits: Hookman, June Moon, The Storm, A Man, His Wife and His Hat, The Threepenny Opera. NYC credits: Fourteen Flights (NYC Fringe/SOHO Playhouse). Regional credits: Time Sensitive (Guthrie Theater); Much Ado About Nothing (Folger Theater); Fu**in’ A (Studio Theater); The Skin of Our Teeth (Rorschach Theater); Lysistrata and Kafka’s Metamorphosis (Synetic Theater). Mr. MacNelly graduated Magna Cum Laude from Georgetown University and will receive his M.F.A. in Acting from UC San Diego in March. Peter maloney, Shelly Levene Broadway: West Side Story, Judgment at Nuremburg, Stanley, Hughie, Poor Murderer, Dinner at Eight, Arcadia, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Carousel, Six Degrees of Separation and Our Town (Lincoln Center Theatre). Off-Broadway: 19 plays with the Atlantic Theater, including David Mamet’s The Water Engine, The Voysey Inheritance, The Duck Variations, and Ethan Coen’s Almost an Evening. Film: 50 films, including Boiler Room, Requiem for a Dream, J.F.K., Jeffrey (directed by Christopher Ashley), The Crucible and John Carpenter’s The Thing. TV: “Uncle Red” on Rescue Me. Writer: plays published by Samuel French, Broadway Play Publishing, Faber and Faber, as well as Leash and Witness (parts of his Abu Ghraib Triptych), both published in the Best American Short Plays series by Applause Books. Member: Atlantic Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Actor’s Studio. jeff marlow, James Lingk La Jolla Playhouse: debut. Theatre: Hamlet, Nothing Sacred (South Coast Repertory); You Can’t Take It with You (Geffen Playhouse); Moonlight and Magnolias, An Empty Plate in the Café du Grand Boeuf, The Sleeper (Laguna Playhouse); Indoor/ Outdoor, Around the World in 80 Days (Colony Theatre – L.A. Ovation Award nomination). Tours of U.S., Europe and Asia with the Reduced Shakespeare Company in The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), The Complete History of America (abridged), Completely Hollywood (abridged). TV: Pushing Daisies, NCIS, Grey’s Anatomy, Without a Trace, The Bernie Mac Show, Strong Medicine, Judging Amy. Film: Akeelah and the Bee, The Hebrew Hammer. manu narayan, Richard Roma La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Broadway: Bombay Dreams (Drama League Award nomination). Off-Broadway/New York: Yeast Nation (NY Fringe Fest—La MaMa); subUrbia, Getting Home (Second Stage); Fu**in’ A (NYSF/Public); Largo (NY Stage & Film). Tour: Miss Saigon. Regional: The Lisbon Traviata (Kennedy Center); Two Gentlemen of Verona (Shakespeare Theatre); The Rivals, Cyrano, Boys from Syracuse (Baltimore CenterStage); The People Next Door (Yale Rep); Romeo and Juliet, Love’s Labour’s Lost (Shakespeare & Company); Metamorphoses (Cincinnati Playhouse); Indian Ink (Wilma Theatre); The Winter’s Tale (Missouri Rep); Les Miserables (St. Louis MUNY). Film/TV: The Love Guru (w/Mike Myers), Cinderella Story: Once upon…, The Last Airbender, Walkaway, Good Night|Good Morning, Quarter Life Crisis, Unforgettable, Rubicon, Nurse Jackie, The Sopranos, Law & Order: SVU, Cashmere Mafia, Lipstick Jungle. Band: DARUNAM. Actors Center Workshop Company. B.F.A., Carnegie Mellon.
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james sutorius, Dave Moss La Jolla Playhouse: The Farnsworth Invention. Broadway: The Farnsworth Invention, Conversations with My Father, The Changing Room, Hamlet, The Cherry Orchard. Off-Broadway: Sexual Perversity in Chicago. Regional: The Seagull, The Autumn Garden and the ClassicsFest projects A Delicate Balance and It Can’t Happen Here (Antaeus); Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (San Diego Critics Award), Lincolnesque (San Diego Critics Award), The Price, The Savannah Disputation (The Old Globe); Hamlet (Cleveland Playhouse and Indiana Rep); Uncle Vanya, The Price (Seattle Rep); Macbeth (Court Theatre); Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Pasadena Playhouse); A Perfect Wedding (Kirk Douglas Theatre); A Man for All Seasons (Nevada Conservatory Theatre); Antony & Cleopatra (Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre); A Christmas Carol (Granada Theatre); The Seagull (The Matrix Theatre). Film/TV: Skokie, On Wings of Eagles, A Death in Canaan, Space, Prototype, A Question of Love, CSI, The Unit, Cold Case, Southland, among many others. ray anthony thomas, George Aaronow is an ensemble member of the Atlantic Theater Company in New York City (which was founded by David Mamet). He was in the original Broadway production of Mamet’s Race and has appeared in American Buffalo, Edmond and some of his short plays off-Broadway and around the country. Favorite roles include: Water by the Spoonful (2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Critics Circle Award for Best Ensemble), Volunteer Man (Obie Award), To Kill a Mockingbird (Detroit Free Press Award), six of August Wilson’s 10-play cycle. His film and TV credits include: Trouble with the Curve (opening soon, starring Clint Eastwood), Sleepwalk with Me (Audience favorite at Sundance), Pariah, Shutter Island, Law & Order, Rescue Me, The Sopranos, Oz and I’ll Fly Away (Emmy consideration). johnny wu, John Williamson Broadway: Chinglish (Longacre Theatre). Regional: Chinglish (Goodman Theatre); Concerning Strange Devices... (Berkeley Rep); Peter and the Starcatchers (La Jolla Playhouse). Film: Limitless, Certainty, Tie a Yellow Ribbon. TV: Person of Interest (CBS), 24 (FOX), Cold Case (CBS). Mr. Wu was born in Shanghai, raised in New York City and received his M.F.A. here at UCSD in 2009. I would like to thank the Playhouse, the University, and the audiences of San Diego for welcoming me back with such open arms. To my cast, my brilliant cast, this has been a dream. Thank you. www.johnnywu.tv. David Mamet, Playwright is the author of the plays: Race, Keep Your Pantheon, School, November, Romance, Boston Marriage, Faustus, Oleanna, Glengarry Glen Ross (1984 Pulitzer Prize and New York Drama Critics Circle Award), American Buffalo, The Old Neighborhood, A Life in the Theatre, Speed-the-Plow, Edmond, Lakeboat, The Water Engine, The Woods, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Reunion and The Cryptogram (1995 Obie Award). His translations and adaptations include: Faustus and Red River by Pierre Laville; and The Cherry Orchard, Three Sisters and Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov. His films include: The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Verdict, The Untouchables, House of Games (writer/director), Oleanna (writer/director), Homicide (writer/director), The Spanish Prisoner (writer/director), Heist (writer/director), Spartan (writer/ director) and Redbelt (writer/director). Mr. Mamet is also the author of: Warm and Cold, a book for children with drawings by Donald Sultan, and two other children’s books, Passover and The Duck and the Goat; Writing in Restaurants, Some Freaks and Make-Believe Town, three volumes of essays; The Hero Pony and The China Man, a book of poems; Three Children’s Plays, On Directing Film, The Cabin, and the novels The Village, The Old Religion and Wilson. His most recent books include the acting books, True & False and Three Uses of the Knife. Glengarry Glen Ross was awarded the Tony® Award for Best Revival of a Play in 2005.
THE COMPANY Christopher Ashley, Director, Glengarry Glen Ross/ Artistic Director has served as La Jolla Playhouse’s Artistic Director since October, 2007. During his tenure, he has helmed the Playhouse’s productions of A Dram of Drummhicit, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Restoration and the acclaimed musicals Xanadu and Memphis, which won four 2010 Tony Awards including Best Musical. Prior to joining the Playhouse, he directed the Broadway productions of Xanadu (Drama Desk nomination), All Shook Up and The Rocky Horror Show (Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations), as well as the Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration productions of Sweeney Todd and Merrily We Roll Along. Other New York credits include: Blown Sideways Through Life, Jeffrey (Lucille Lortel and Obie Awards), The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, Valhalla, Regrets Only, Wonder of the World, Communicating Doors, Bunny Bunny, The Night Hank Williams Died, Fires in the Mirror (Lucille Lortel Award), among others. Mr. Ashley also directed the feature film Jeffrey and the American Playhouse production of Blown Sideways Through Life for PBS. Mr. Ashley is the recipient of the Princess Grace Award, the Drama League Director Fellowship and an NEA/TCG Director Fellowship. Todd Rosenthal, Scenic Designer Tony Award: August: Osage County; Tony Award nomination: The Motherfu**er with the Hat. Recent/Upcoming: Roman Holiday, Nice Fish (Guthrie); The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Theatre Royal, Ireland); Close Up Space (Manhattan Theater Club); August: Osage County (Sydney Theatre; National Theatre, London); Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Broadway); Clybourne Park (Steppenwolf); Red (Goodman); As You Like It (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Stephen King/John Mellencamp’s Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, A Parallelogram (Mark Taper Forum); Good People (Arena Stage). Exhibitor, 2007 Prague Quadrennial. Lead designer, Mythbusters™, the Explosive Exhibition. Awards: Olivier, Ovation, Garland, Joseph Jefferson, Michael Merritt. Associate Professor, Northwestern University. Graduate, Yale Drama. toddar.com Toni Leslie James, Costume Designer La Jolla Playhouse: Milk Like Sugar. Broadway credits: The Scottsboro Boys, Finian’s Rainbow, Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, King Hedley II, One Mo’ Time, The Wild Party, Marie Christine, Footloose, The Tempest, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, Angels in America: Millennium Approaches & Perestroika, Chronicle of a Death Foretold and Jelly’s Last Jam. Awards: Tony nomination, three Drama Desk nominations, Hewes Design Award and three additional Hewes nominations, the Connecticut Critics Circle Award, Irene Sharaff Young Masters Award and the 2009 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Costume Design. Ms. James is Director of Costumes at Virginia Commonwealth University. David Lander, Lighting Designer La Jolla Playhouse: The Nightingale, 33 Variations (Craig Noel Award), Restoration. Broadway: The Lyons with Linda Lavin; Master Class with Tyne Daly; Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo with Robin Williams (Drama Desk Award; Tony nomination); 33 Variations with Jane Fonda (Tony nomination); I Am My Own Wife (Drama Desk nomination); A Man for All Seasons with Frank Langella; Dirty Blonde (Drama Desk nomination); Golden Child. Also work in the UK, Asia, Australia, Off Broadway and major regional theatres in the US. David Corsello, Sound Designer David Corsello is a New York-based sound designer. New York credits include: Canon in D Minor, Fourteen Flights (NYC Fringe); The Groove Factory (New York Musical Theatre Festival); American River (Theater for the New City); Mariela in the Desert (Repertorio Español); Particular Premiere of a First (Baryshnikov Arts Center); February House (Asst., The Public Theater). Regional: Fingers & Toes, Altar Boyz (Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival); The Baltimore Waltz (Cape Rep Theatre); Reel Music (Florida Studio Theatre). La Jolla Playhouse: Sleeping Beauty Wakes (Assoc.), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Asst.), The 39 Steps (Asst.). UCSD: The Threepenny Opera, The Seagull. Master’s Degree in English and M.F.A., UCSD.
Shirley Fishman, Dramaturg Now in her 11th season at the Playhouse, Ms. Fishman recently served as dramaturg on An Iliad, Hands on a Hardbody and American Night. Other projects include Surf Report, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bonnie & Clyde, Creditors, Herringbone, Unusual Acts of Devotion, the Playhouse’s production of Xanadu and UC San Diego’s The Revenger’s Tragedy, directed by Christopher Ashley. At the Joseph Papp Public Theatre she dramaturged such projects as Jessica Hagedorn’s Dogeaters, Two Sisters and Piano by Nilo Cruz and Tina Landau’s Space, among others. She serves as a Playwright’s Dramaturg for UC San Diego’s Baldwin New Play Festival and was Co-Curator of the New Work Now! Annual festival. She has been a Creative Advisor/Dramaturg at the Sundance Theatre Lab and is an M.F.A. graduate of Columbia University’s Theatre Theory/Criticism/Dramaturgy program. Lisa Porter, Stage Manager La Jolla Playhouse: Restoration, The Third Story, Mother Courage. International Tours: Mikhail Baryshnikov, Laurie Anderson, Richard Foreman, Robert Wilson and Ong Keng Sen. Broadway: Les Miserables, The Lion King. Off-Broadway and regional credits include The Public Theater, MCC Theater, Old Globe Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, and others. Ms. Porter has worked with filmmakers Jonathan Demme and Hal Hartley on their first theatrical productions and recently collaborated on the world premiere of Lear Dreaming at the Singapore Arts Festival. Ms. Porter holds an M.F.A. from the Yale School of Drama, previously taught at Yale, and is currently a Professor of Theatre and Dance and Head of the Graduate Stage Management program at UC San Diego. Tarin Hurstell, Assistant Stage Manager La Jolla Playhouse credits: American Night, Little Miss Sunshine, Peer Gynt, Surf Report. Ms. Hurstell has recently stage managed RENT, Joseph…Dreamcoat (SDMT); Mixtape, A Servant of Two Masters (Lamb’s Players); Summerfest 2011 (La Jolla Music Society); The Tempest (North Coast Repertory Theatre); To Kill a Mockingbird, Rabbit Hole (Indiana Repertory Theatre); and assisted on American Night (Center Theatre Group). She has also worked in stage management for Moonlight Stage Productions, Marin Theatre Company, PCPA Theaterfest, Utah Festival Opera and Illinois Shakespeare Festival. She holds a B.A. in theatre from James Madison University. TELSEY + COMPANY, WILL CANTLER, CSA, Casting Broadway/Tours: Glengarry Glen Ross, Annie, Chaplin, Bring It On, Evita, Newsies, Porgy and Bess, SPIDER-MAN Turn Off the Dark, Rock of Ages, Wicked, Sister Act, Jekyll & Hyde, Memphis, Million Dollar Quartet, The Addams Family. Off-Broadway: Bare, Atlantic, MCC, Signature. Regional: Allegiance at Old Globe, Paper Mill. Film: The Odd Life of Timothy Green, Friends with Kids, Joyful Noise, Margin Call, Sex and the City 1 & 2, I Love You Phillip Morris, Rachel Getting Married, Dan in Real Life, Across the Universe. TV: “Smash,” “The Big C.” www.telseyandco.com. Bernie Telsey CSA, Will Cantler CSA, David Vaccari CSA, Bethany Knox CSA, Craig Burns CSA, Tiffany Little Canfield CSA, Rachel Hoffman CSA, Justin Huff CSA, Patrick Goodwin CSA, Abbie Brady-Dalton CSA, David Morris, Cesar A. Rocha, Andrew Femenella, Karyn Casl, Kristina Bramhall, Jessie Malone.
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THE PLAYWRIGHT 1947: David Mamet born November 30 in Chicago, Illinois, son of attorney Bernard Morris and teacher Lenore June Mamet. 1963-65: While in high school, works as a busboy at Second City, a Chicago improvisational comedy troupe. 1968-69: Attends Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre in New York City studying acting as a residency component of his college degree. 1968: Writes first play, Camel, fulfilling thesis requirement in English. 1969: Graduates from Goddard College in Vermont with B.A. in English Literature. 1970: Lakeboat, one-act play, later produced as a film in 2000. 1971-73: Serves as Artist-in-residence at Goddard College. 1972: Writes Duck Variations, a one-act play. 1973: Founds acting ensemble, St. Nicholas Theatre Company, in Chicago; Artistic Director through 1976. Also acts as playwright, screenwriter, director and producer. 1974: Writes Sexual Perversity in Chicago. Earns Obie award for Best New American Play and Joseph Jefferson Award. 1975: Writes American Buffalo. Earns Joseph Jefferson Award, Obie Award for Best New American Play and New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best American Play. 1976: Receives Children’s Theatre Grant from the New York State Council on the Arts. Rockefeller Grant. Awarded Columbia Broadcasting System fellowship in creative writing. Teaching Fellow at the school of Drama, Yale University. 1977: Writes Dark Pony and Reunion, two one-acts: All Men Are Whores; A Life in the Theatre; writes and directs The Woods; The Water Engine: An American Fable, first produced as a radio play, later adapted for the stage; Mr. Happiness. Receives Outer Critics’ Circle Award for contributions to American theatre.
1978: Appointed Associate Artistic Director of Chicago’s Goodman Theatre. Writes Lone Canoe or The Explorer a musical with music and lyrics by Alaric Jans. 1978-79: Writes The Sanctity of Marriage, a one-act play. 1979: Writes one-act plays: Shoeshine, A Sermon and Donny March, an early version of The Cryptogram. 1981: Writes The Postman Always Rings Twice, a screenplay adaptation of James M. Cain’s novel; Edmond (play later earns an Obie award for playwriting; and The Verdict, a screenplay adaptation of the novel by Barry Reed. The film is nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. 1983: Receives Society for West End Theatre Award for The Disappearance of the Jews, a one-act; writes The Dog; Film Crew; 4A.; Glengarry Glen Ross has its world premiere at London’s National Theatre; wins Olivier Award for Best Play; American Buffalo receives Tony Award nomination for Best Reproduction of a Play. 1984: American premiere of Glengarry Glen Ross (earns Pulitzer Prize, New York Drama Critics Award for Best American Play, the Joseph Jefferson Dintenfass Award, Elizabeth Hull-Warriner Award; Dramatist Guild Award and Tony Award nomination for Best Play; writes Vermont Sketches: Pint’s a Pound the Word Around, Deer Dogs, Conversations with the Spirit World and Dowsing; Warm and Cold, a children’s picture book. 1985: Writes The Shawl; Prairie du Chien; Vint, a oneact based on short story by Anton Chekhov. 1986: Writes Three Children’s Plays: The Poet and the Rent: A Play for Kids Seven to 8:15; The Revenge of Space Pandas or Binky Rudich and the Two SpeedClock and The Frog Prince. Receives American Institute of Arts and Letters Award for Literature. 1987: Writing in Restaurants, a collection of essays; writes screenplay for and directs House of Games (nominated for Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay); The Untouchables, a screenplay based on the television series (nominated for Writers Guild Award for Best Screenplay based on material from another medium); The Owl, a children’s book.
1988: Writes Speed-the-Plow (earns Tony Award for Best Play; Where Were You When It Went Down?; becomes Associate Professor of Film at Columbia University; writes Things Change screenplay.
2000: Writes screenplay and directs State and Main; Lakeboat screenplay based on his 1970 one-act play. Writes and directs The Heist. Writes futuristic fictional documentary A Consideration of Three Sources.
1989: Bobby Gould in Hell, a play; We’re No Angels screenplay.
2001: Writes Hannibal, first draft of screenplay.
1990: Writes Five Television Plays: A waitress in Yellowstone, Bradford, The Museum of Science and Industry Story, A Waster Weekend and We Will Take You There; also writes The Hero Pony, a book of poems. 1991: Writes Oleanna, a play, and Homicide, a screenplay. 1992: Writes Hoffa, a screenplay; On Directing Film, a book; and screenplay adaptation of Glengarry Glen Ross. 1993: Produces motion picture A Life in the Theatre, based on his 1977 play. 1994: Writes A Life with No Joy in It, and Other Plays and Pieces, a collection. Writes Vanya on 42nd Street and Oleanna screenplays; The Village, a novel.
2003: Writes Diary of a Young London Physician, screenplay. 2004: Writes Spartan, screenplay. 2005: Writes The Voysey Inheritance, based on Harley Granville-Barker’s 1905 play. Romance, a satire. 2006: Creates The Unit, a TV series; film version of Edmond; The Wicked Son, 37 short pieces about antiSemitism. 2007: Writes Bambi vs. Godzilla, essays on the movie business. 2008: November, a political comedy debuts on Broadway. Writes and directs film Redbelt. 2009: Race premieres on Broadway.
1995: Writes The Cryptogram (earns Obie Award for Best New Play); Passover, a children’s book.
2010: Theatre (book) and The Trials of Roderick Spode (The Human Ant), a graphic novel.
1996: Writes American Buffalo screenplay; The Duck and the Goat, a children’s book. Make-Believe Town: Essays and Remembrances, a collection of Mamet’s writings.
2011: Writes The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture, book of essays.
1997: Writes Wag the Dog screenplay, based on the novel American Hero by Larry Beinhart (nominated for Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay); The Old Religion, a novel, and True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor, a collection of essays. 1998: Writes The Old Neighborhood: Three Plays: The Disappearance of the Jews, Jolly and Deeny; Three Uses of the Knife: On the Nature and Purpose of Drama. 1999: Directs Boston Marriage premiere at American Repertory Theatre; writes The Chinaman, poems; Henrietta, juvenile fiction; Jafsie and John Henry, essays; The Spanish Prisoner, original screenplay; The Winslow Boy, screenplay adaptation of Terrence Rattigan play; On Acting, book of essays.
2012: Upcoming: 30th anniversary production of Glengarry Glen Ross on Broadway; The Anarchist new play which he will direct.
In 1980s Chicago, four men who work for the same real estate office sell dubious Florida land parcels with such evocative names as “Glengarry Highlands” and “Glen Ross Farms” to gullible clients. With the economy in a slump and money tight, the salesmen — Shelly “The Machine” Levene, George Aaronow, Ricky Roma and Dave Moss — are having a hard time making sales. In order to keep their jobs and make money, they compete against each other to win a sales contest — the top earner gets a Cadillac, the bottom two earners lose their jobs. The salesmen enter into a frenzy of one-upmanship that leads to an underhanded plot that threatens their livelihood and tests their moral fiber. Mamet’s play becomes a microcosm of a capitalistic system in which individuals are caught in a Darwinian struggle for survival.
“Our job is to sell. I’m the man to sell.” - Levene
MAMET SPEAK Mamet’s dialogue is so unique that it has become known as “Mametspeak.” He has said the main emphasis of his dialogue is on the rhythm of the language and the way rhythm and action are identical. Jack Shepard, the actor who played Ricky Roma in the first production of Glengarry Glen Ross said: “The rhythms are slick, fast and syncopated, like a drum solo.” Mamet has said that he does not merely record what he hears around him, but transforms it into free verse. Mamet’s dialogue seeks to set forth the truth of his characters’ existence within certain circumstances in his plays. We can hear it in the fear, panic and desolation of the salesmen’s arias and duets in Glengarry Glen Ross. In sparse, clipped dialogue — replete with pauses, interrupted thoughts, hesitations, along with outbursts of obscenity and profanity — Mamet’s salesmen’s desperate struggle to stay in the real estate game is evidenced by their incoherent and chaotic conversation. Mamet’s vernacular has a direct relationship to character, exposing both spoken and unspoken emotions, and creating conflict and tension between characters. Influenced by playwrights Harold Pinter and Samuel Beckett, Mamet writes with extreme economy of expression. One of his favorite maxims is “KISS — keep it simple, stupid.”
“What I write about is what I think is missing from our society. And that’s communication on a basic level.” - David Mamet
BEFORE YOU GO
KNOW
We look forward to seeing you at La Jolla Playhouse at your upcoming performance of Glengarry Glen Ross. Below is some additional information about the production and the venue to enhance your theater-going experience. Parking Parking is free for all subscribers. For all others parking is $2 (subject to change), Mon-Fri. Upon arrival to campus, please purchase your parking permit from one of the automated pay stations located next to the information kiosk. Simply park, note your space number, and pay $2 at the pay station. Pay stations accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express or cash ($1 and $5), and do not give change. You will not need to return to your car. Parking is free on the weekends. Dining JAI by Wolfgang Puck is located at La Jolla Playhouse as part of the theatre complex. The restaurant is open for dinner from 5:30 pm on performance dates only. JAI’s menu features diverse Asian fusion cuisine ranging from miso sake broiled butterfish to crispy Cantonese duck. Executive Chef Ben Hong works closely with Chef Puck, drawing on his experience as executive chef at Puck’s Red 7, to create this extraordinary menu. Reservations Online: http://www.wolfgangpuck.com/restaurants/fine-dining/3896 Other recommended nearby restaurants include: Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar 8970 University Center Lane, San Diego, CA 92122 www.flemingssteakhouse.com Aroma Café 909 Prospect St, Ste 100, San Diego, CA 92037 http://aromalajolla.com/ Pamplemousse Grille 514 Via de la Valle Ste 100, Solana Beach, CA 92075 http://www.pgrille.com/ Dolce, Pane E Vino 16081 San Dieguito Rd, Suite G1 A-B, PO Box 3484, Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067 www.dolcepanevino.com Guiseppe Restaurants & Fine Catering 700 Prospect St, San Diego, CA 92037 http://www.giuseppecatering.com/
Audience Engagement Events In lieu of our usual Talkback Tuesday, Insider and Discovery Sunday events, the Playhouse is offering a rare opportunity to learn about Glengarry Glen Ross first-hand from Artistic Director Christopher Ashley and members of the cast during two audience engagement events - Monday, October 1 at 7:00 pm - Monday, October 8 at 7:00 pm Seating is limited. Please note that these events will replace the regular Talkback Tuesday, Insider and Discovery Sunday events. *A link to RSVP will be posted here http://www.lajollaplayhouse.org/glengarry-events after Friday, September 21. Monday, October 1, 2012 at 7:00 pm Sheila and Potiker Hughes Theatre What inspired the physical world of Glengarry Glen Ross? During this lively discussion, Artistic Director Christopher Ashley will reveal more about the technical and scenic elements of this production. Monday, October 8, 2012 at 7:00 pm Sheila and Potiker Hughes Theatre Participate in an exclusive Q&A with cast members from Glengarry Glen Ross and Artistic Director Christopher Ashley. Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to exchange dialogueabout the process of creating this play. Both events moderated by Stephen McCormick, Director of Education & Outreach. Foodie Friday for Glengarry Glen Ross Friday, October 5 at 6:00 pm Buy tickets to Glengarry Glen Ross on October 5 and join us for a complimentary microbrew tasting from Stone Brewing Company. Plus food trucks, Ms Patty Melt and the Pierogi Truck will be there with classic griddled fare and savory pierogi. https://lajollaplayhouse.org/tickets-and-subscriptions/events/foodie-fridays Accessibility A golf cart is available to assist patrons with accessibility issues to and from the parking lot. Please notify the Box Office prior to your performance if you are in need of this service; additionally, you may pull into the five minute parking in front of the theatre, and a friendly La Jolla Playhouse greeter will assist you.