Mamet's "Marriage" on the rocks

In the new production of "Boston Marriage," David Mamet hits the trifecta of theatrical disaster. Mamet has written, directed and, presumably, cast the play (one of the three actresses to appear is his wife, Rebecca Pidgeon), and on all three counts an evening in the theater doesn't get much worse than this.

Mamet's high-octane testosterone has long been one of the premium fuels driving the American theater. In plays like "American Buffalo," "Glengarry Glen Ross," "Oleanna," "Edmond" and "Sexual Perversity in Chicago," Mamet's aggressive hormones and those of his usually scheming, lowlife characters have been a good match for each other. On the other hand, the playwright has caught some flak for his female characters who, if they show up at all, are likely to have the charm of a cathouse bouncer.

Maybe this is why Mamet decided to write "Boston Marriage," a drawing-room comedy that revolves around the delicate psyches of two upper-class Edwardian women, Claire and Anna (Pidgeon and Mary Steenburgen) and a Scottish maid (Alicia Silverstone). Is this Mamet's way of saying, "See, I'm not that cigar-smoking misogynist you've made me out to be." If so, Mamet hasn't done the female sex any favors in this production. For all their sophisticated banter, these women mostly sound like petty nitwits (or maybe that was the plan all along).

"Boston Marriage" isn't so much a play as it is a pretext for Mamet to show off his fancied linguistic gifts. The writing is pretentious and prissy, a faux Wildean foray into the world of wit and witticism that falls flatter than Kansas. As in "The Importance of Being Earnest," we're plunged into the drawing-room prattle of Claire and Anna, two ex-lesbian lovers who have seen better days and nights together. Claire wants Anna's help in seducing a young woman who has caught her eye. Anna wants Claire back but finally agrees to help with the seduction.

That's about it by way of plot; the rest is talk. But Mamet's usual terse rhythms and biting dialogue have given way to an ornate style of speech that takes us no further into the characters than their wagging tongues. If the words really were witty, it might not matter. But lines such as "You know, I hate it when my teeth begin to chatter." "Why?" "Because they seldom have anything to say" are closer to Oscar Madison than Oscar Wilde.

If the writing leaves much to be desired, the acting falls somewhere between awful and the abyss. Steenburgen's Anna speaks in a sullen, fabricated voice that sounds as if she's recovering from a root canal. She drapes her body and attitudes dully around her words without regard for any meaning they might have, either for her or the person she's addressing. The only exception to this is when she's taking nasty potshots at the poor maid.

Pidgeon fares a little better, but not much. Most of the time these two scarcely seem to exist from the neck down. Even the most brittle, arch or epigrammatic characters need to establish a reality from which their words spring. Only Silverstone manages to draw an occasional laugh for her befuddled character. All these faults are accentuated by the presentational style that Mamet has chosen to stage the play. In the end, the best way to salvage this wreck might be to change the title to "The Importance of Being David." Now that's worth a laugh or two.

Writer-director: David Mamet; Scenic design: Takeshi Kata; Lighting design: Lap-Chi Chu; Costume design: Debra McGuire.

From IMDB.com:

Birth name
David Alan Mamet

Spouse
Rebecca Pidgeon (22 September 1991 - present) 2 children
Lindsay Crouse (21 December 1977 - 1990) (divorced) 2 children

Trade mark
Frequently makes use of William H. Macy, Alec Baldwin and Joe Mantegna, actors who also headlined his stage productions. Other regulars include Ed O'Neill, Lionel Mark Smith, Ricky Jay, Jonathan Katz and the late J. T. Walsh.

The telephone is often a key device or weapon in his works.

His films feature bursts of fast moving, profane dialog.

Often casts his wife, Rebecca Pidgeon, in prominent roles in movies he directs

Great attention to realistic dialogue, often the actors in his films stutter or even leave a large portion of their lines unsaid.

Trivia
Playwright/screenwriter

Well known for the rhythmic nature of his dialogue, he actually uses a metronome during rehearsals to perfect the actors' delivery of it.

Won the Pulitzer prize in Drama for "Glengary Glen Ross".

His stage work assayed in book entitled, "How Good is David Mamet, Anyway?" by critic John Heilpern, Dec.1999.

Attended Goddard College, Plainfield, VT with William H. Macy and Jonathan Katz.

Brother of Lynn Mamet.

2 children with actress Rebecca Pidgeon: Clara and Noah.

Daughters with Lindsay Crouse: Willa and Zosia.

His play, Boston Marriage performed at the Donmar Warehouse and New Ambassador's Theatre in London, was nominated for a 2002 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best New Comedy of 2001.

Eschews using a personal computer to write his screen/plays preferring, instead, his old-fashioned typewriter

Used to work as a waiter at Second City Theater in Chicago.

Brother-in-law of Matthew Pidgeon.

Was twice nominated for Broadway's Tony Award as author of a Best Play nominee: in 1984 for "Glengarry Glen Ross," and in 1988 for "Speed-the-Plow."

Often either declines credit or uses a pseudonym if he is called upon only as a script doctor, or some films he doesn't direct. The only such film that credited him by name was Hannibal.

The only such film that credited him by name was Hannibal.

Thx for the bio. And I didn't realize he had done some writing for Hannibal. Good writer...needs to get away from the theater and out into America. He's is a potentially great writer, but he has his eye too often on the stage IMHO.

But of course he is famous...and I am just a struggler.

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