Mamet Plays: 4: Crytogram; Oleanna; the Old Neighborhood

A collection of outstanding plays from one of America’s greatest playwrights

Cryptogram: Mamet’s play suggests that deception is an endless spiralling process that eventually corrodes the soul. But it also harps on a theme that runs right throughout Mamet’s work: the notion that we use words as a destructive social camouflage to lie to others and ourselves…And here through all the repetitions, half sentences and echoing encounter of one question with another, you feel the characters devalue experience through their use of language. As Del cries in desperation at the end, ‘If we could speak the truth for one instant, then we would be free.’ Mamet’s point is that we are held spiritually captive by our bluster and evasions. (Michael Billington, Guardian)

Oleanna: An exploration of male-femal conflicts which cogently demonstrates that whe free thought and dialogue are imperilled, nobody wins (Independent)

The Old Neighborhood: Mamet, ranked with Miller, Albee and Shepard as America’s finest living playwrights, distills the raw, rank flavour of people wading down streams of consciousness…A play of riveting disquiet (Evening Standard)