Director Richard Dominick and Artistic Director Jennifer McHugh respond.
BY RICHARD DOMINICK
I’ve been asked:
‘why Glengarry Glen Ross?’
‘why David Mamet?”
So rather than give a stock director’s answer - great play - strong characters - an actor’s and director’s dream to be involved in - I gave it some real thought, and came up with a real answer.
And it was a simple one. Mamet is a rebel and I like rebels.
I have a few heroes. Not many. There’s Henry David Thoreau, Ernest Hemingway, Muhammad Ali, Bob Dylan, an uncle of mine who probably killed a few people back in New Jersey, Sitting Bull, Rosa Parks and Jack Benny (yes, I said Jack Benny).
All rebels. All lived what they believed in. All stood up for their beliefs. even when it was better to just sit down and be quiet.
And that’s where David Mamet comes in. I may not agree with everything he said - but he said it - said it at a time when it was best to just keep quiet. He never backed down, never apologized, never tried to make amends.
And why should he? Thoreau never gave in and became part of ’society’, Hemingway continued going to bullfights, Ali stepped down as champ rather than go to war, Dylan changed music - several times -Sitting Bull stood up, Rosa Parks sat down and Jack Benny refused to fire Rochester Van Jones just because he was black.
As for my Uncle, well, some people just need killing.
Rebels.
And that takes us to Glengarry Glen Ross.
I had just finished directing ORPHANS by Lyle Kessler for PPTC and rather than sit back satisfied at how well the production went - how solid the acting was - and how well the direction was, (or hoped it was), I found myself thinking “what’s next?”.
So I decided to make a list of plays I thought would work well in this immersive theater, plays that were written by a master playwright, plays that…..
I put my pen down. I never wrote down a title. I just knew the play it had to be. I live by my gut instinct and my gut said ‘David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross’. It was time to bring back the Rebel.
I figured I would pitch it to our Artistic Director Jennifer as a Fall production. But within a matter of days, that plan changed.
I read that Glengarry Glen Ross was coming to Broadway this Spring and I thought “is it just a coincidence that this is the play I wanted to direct or did some sort of Theater Muse come drifting through my open window and whisper “David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross’ in my right ear.
What the hell - I chose the whispering voice of the Theater Muse!
It was time to bring out the Rebel and we had to do it now, before Broadway. Let PPTC do ours and then compare it to Broadway’s and see if this small black box theater can go fifteen rounds with the Broadway production.
So I needed to pitch it to Jennifer immediately.
I needed to tell her that PPTC has to climb into the ring with Broadway. We weren’t going to win but we could go the fifteen rounds and still be standing.
So I sat down with Jennifer and began talking about Ernest Hemingway, Sitting Bull, Jack Benny and David Mamet.
WHY DAVID MAMET?
BY JENNIFER MCHUGH
Every Friday an email called TGIF drops into my inbox. It’s a wrap up of the world’s news of that week, written by the brilliant, hilarious and always cheeky journalist Nellie Bowles. And every week, halfway through the write-up is a cartoon drawn by David Mamet. You read that correctly. A cartoon. Created by the playwright David Mamet. The first time I saw it, I thought to myself, “Oh! There he is.” I never understand the cartoon. And, it seems like it’s drawn by a 5 year old with no artistic skills. But, it makes me giggle. Why?
Because although David Mamet was ostracized from many mainstream theater circles over the last few years he’s still clearly kicking.
When Richard approached me about producing Glengarry Glen Ross, I hesitated. Are we brave enough to produce a play by a man scorned because of his public political views? But then, I remembered his founding of the still thriving Atlantic Acting School, his co-writing with William H. Macy the book “Practical Aesthetics” a collection of acting techniques that is still relevant today, and then there is his body of work--Oleanna, Speed-the-Plow, American Buffalo, Boston Marriage, Sexual Perversity in Chicago and of course his most famous, Glengarry Glen Ross.
These are great plays, showcasing Mamet’s profound mastery in capturing the rhythms of American speech and thought—especially of the decades in which they were written.
Glengarry Glen Ross, specifically, written in 1983, predicts the avarice that befell so many in that decade and in the following.
So, I chose to be brave. And, learning that a revival was also taking place on Broadway at the same time sealed the deal. Mamet is an essential American voice. You may or may not agree with Mamet the person, but Mamet the artist takes big swings and forces you to think and to reckon with ugliness. And, sometimes, that is the purpose of art and of theater.
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