Show and Tell Post 2

For my second show and tell post I chose the play Oleanna by David Mamet. The play originally premiered in 1992 at Cambridge University and starred William H. Macy as the character John and Rebecca Pidgeon as Carol. Essentially the play is about a college professor and one of his young impressionable female students and the power struggle that they get into over the course of their interactions. Over the course of three separate act which lead to a road of self destruction  that continues to spiral out of control throughout the show affecting both of the characters personal lives in the process.
Initially Carol approaches John in his office as an innocent impressionable student who just wants to learn from this accomplished professor who has a lot going from him. They go back and forth and we begin to see just how naïve and dare I say, "simple minded" Carol is as they continue to banter back and forth. During the second act Carol comes back in a completely poised and capable manner than compared to Act 1. It's in this act that Carol reveals to John that she's made a formal complaint with the College committee that John is a sexist and that she's been documenting daily sexual remarks that he's made/advances towards her. We also see that a lot of Carol's new ideas are being fueled by "the group" that she is in and we're lead to believe it's some sort of extremist women's lib type group. At this point John attempts to resolve the matter privately with Carol but she makes it clear she'd rather slander his name and end his career.
Carol decides it's best that she leave. As she does, John stands in front of the door and grabs hold of her. He physically prevents her from leaving. Carol then screams for help. End of Act II.
At the start of Act III John has been suspended from his position, and is in the process of packing up his office. John mentions that he has not been home recently to see his wife or his child. A phone call reveals that if he had, he would have learned that her charges against him now amount to attempted rape. Carol offers to drop all charges if John would agree to her group's list of books to be removed from the university, which includes his own. John refuses, and prefers to accept his dismissal from the university. He yells at her angrily asking her to leave when the phone rings again. This time it's John's wife. Carol tries to dictate how John should speak to his wife, after this John savagely beats her, verbally abuses her and holds a chair above his head as she cowers on the floor. The play ends with Carol saying, "Yes...that's right."

So, one of the interesting dramaturgical choices that I thought was noteworthy is the fact that the entire story plays out entirely in one location, John's office. I think this sets the tone in that you easily pick up on the very up close and personal one on one tension that is naturally inherent in the teacher student confrontation dynamic to begin with. I think that limiting the environment of the play to just John's office invokes a relatable setting and feeds into an underlying tension of socially unacceptable behavior in an school environment which is something that is already highly susceptible to possible negatively interpreted social perception. I think this is interesting because there is a fine line between teachers and students that is always drawn in the sand. It's an interesting relationship that borders between personal and professional and yet it only takes on inciting incident to change that dynamic completely. Oleanna takes this concept and steers it into a very tragic direction with the end result of two individuals lives being completely changed for the worse.
Another interesting dramaturgical choice I found was the way Mamet introduces his character John through basically what equates as a monologue which in the play is a conversation on the telephone. This is interesting because it immediately establishes a unique rhythm and tempo for the play by introducing the play in a distinctly different manner. Ultimately by listening in on this conversation we see first hand how John responds to his wife and their troubles at home, in turn giving us more insight into his personal life. Now both the audience and Carol have seen how John deals with the pressures he faces and we can see his frustration continue to mount over the course of the phone conversation with his wife and his real estate broker. Over the course of the play these seemingly insignificant phone conversations continue to show John's stress continuing to build and knowing that this young girl is trying to ruin his life on top of everything else it's only a matter of time before he finally loses it. Of course at the end John eventually gives in and assaults the girl, because he's finally been pushed to the brink and he makes his final incriminating choice. I think this is an important aspect of the play to note because Mamet is putting in motion a slow build of emotion that will eventually lead to John's downfall, but it's so subtle in its delivery that it's easy to dismiss these moments as "filler" for the play, when in fact they are crucial in setting the pace, rhythm and tempo.