Mamet's 'Glengarry Glen Ross' leaves this weekend

Alexander Strain (Richard Roma) and Rick Foucheux (Shelly Levene) in Round House Theatre’s production of Glengarry Glen Ross/Photo by Danisha Crosby

For theatregoers who can’t get enough, this is the last weekend to see David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross now on stage at the Bethesda Round House.

It is outstanding theatre with some of the best acting seen in the Washington area, and I am not just talking about a portion of the cast, but the entire cast.

Starring in the all male production are Jeff Allin, Conrad Feininger, Rick Foucheux, Stephen Patrick Martin, KenYatta Rogers, Alexander Strain, and Jesse Terrill.

This is not a performance for those only musically inclined and/or who like happyeverafter endings. Prepare to be shocked by coarse language which is not sprinkled here and there, but runs the gamut of the show which is harsh reality.  The speech is germane. 

It's all about a real estate office populated by desperate men who employ desperate measures to save themselves from the bleak economic environment. 

Mamet (b. 1947) worked in a real estate office in Chicago, where he grew up, and likely observed similar verbal exchanges (on a reduced level) to those he wrote about in Glengarry, as have any of us who have worked in a real estate office, or in any office for that matter.

Driven into a corner, the crazed salesmen respond like animals, like most humans would. How about you? 

The set by James Kronzer is marvelous and surely will gain a Helen Hayes nomination.  A Chinese restaurant starts the play and is so lifelike, I could almost smell Chinese. The backdrops and the clinking of china stage the play in the 1970s but it could be any time.

Conrad Feininger (George Aaronow) and Jeff Allin (Dave Moss) in Round House Theatre’s production of Glengarry Glen Ross/Photo by Danisha Crosby

The next scene is the real estate office, typical of any office "back then": an unkempt business filled with wooden desks, doors, filing cabinets, and paper, lots of paper.

It's a short play (80 minutes) which never languishes. Glengarry Glen Ross won the Pulitzer for Best Drama and New York Drama Critics Circle for Best American Play in 1984.

Helen Hayes would also do well to nominate Glengarry's lighting designer (Daniel Maclean Wagner) in addition to all the actors (is this what the Outstanding Ensemble Award is about?) and, certainly, the director, Mitchell Hebert.

Plus, (another plus) the Bethesda Round House was a marvelous venue.  It was my first visit there, and I was delightfully surprised by the accommodations, the services, and the ushers, one of whom told me the actors would be disappointed with just a half-full house on a Saturday afternoon, but it was more than a respectable showing, I thought, considering all the competition for time in Washington, D.C.

My only regret is my tardiness filing this post.  Professional theatregoers will not want to miss it. 

P.S. The Paris Review has a great interview with Mamet from 1997.

Prices at the Round House start at $26.

Bethesda Round House Theatre

4545 East-West Highway
Bethesda, MD 20814
Ph. 240-644-1100

Metro station:  Bethesda (one block away)

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David Mamet's 'November' is a June hit in Arlington

Dominion Stage's November now playing at Arlington's Theatre on the Run made me realize why I adore community theatre.


It was thoroughly delightful (if you've got a hardened ear), funny, entertaining, and that's why we go, isn't it? Oh, and to ponder all the questions the content may summon. This script is all too real, and full of hilarious (for the most part) one-liners.

The president of the United States is running for re-election which means cash, and lots of it, is necessary to save his seat in the upcoming election only days away, and, by the way, fund his presidential library in case he should lose.

Throughout the play "President Charles Smith" (Dave Wright) banters with his attorney (James Senavitis) whose major role is to calm the testy, emotional president, and to answer the constantly ringing telephones. (A major feat, to answer approximately 1,000 calls on one of three (or four?) phones in the Oval Office. No one missed a beat. T. J. and Jessi Keiter, the directors, Kevin DeMine (sound) and Marcia Carpentier (properties) are to be commended.)

Wright is absolutely marvelous and delivers a performance worthy of a Helen Hayes nomination. The other characters, particularly Aimee Meher-Homji, the "president's" speechwriter, and Gary Cramer, a turkey dressed as a mouse who is a turkey lobbyist, are exceptional. Both of these individuals have their own platforms and want the president's attention, if you please. Can they help him get re-elected? That's all that matters, or is it? It's all about me-me-me-me-me, Mamet.

The first and second acts begin to roll, gathering steam and commotion to launch the third act which zooms right outa here, and the prez comes around as more of a person with a heart, after all. (Missing from some politicians.)

The dialogue is so quick and punchy, one hardly has time to notice the set decoration, elaborate for a small theatre and put together for the most part by David M. Moretti, the president of Dominion's board, in charge of "set dressing" for this production.

Although David Mamet wrote the play in late 2007 (and it's not a typical Mamet drama, he, the author of Glengarry Glen Ross and Speed-the-Plow), the issues remain the same from election to election, big, small, and in-between: It's all about the money, honey.  (Of course.)

The language is coarse with plentiful f-bombs, but really, their droppings have become so commonplace and monotonous not only in this production, but everywhere, they could float off a turkey's back. (Sorry.)

If you haven't been to TOTR, let not the area's industrial setting intimidate you. The TOTR sign is not directly on Four Mile Run, but sits about a half block away, perpendicular to the street. Parking is available around back and well lighted. Arlington's Cultural Affairs Division, a sponsor and occupant of the building, manages the facility which is a nice surprise inside, and during the single intermission, guests may view the art exhibit in the lobby area (and buy pieces and a few treats, too, of course.) Enjoy!

What: November

Duration:  Less than two hours

When: 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday nights, now through June 16

Where: Dominion Stage at Theatre on the Run, 3700 South Four Mile Run, Arlington 22206

How much: $20.00 at the door or save $2 by ordering tickets ahead online

For more information: 571-DS-Shows or info@dominionstage.org or box-office@dominionstage.org

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