Oleanna

by David Mamet

Jan 20th - Feb 4th

Blurb:

Did he or didn't he? As if straight from the Herman Cain scandal, Oleanna is a seething investigation into the ever-present mechanisms of power, harassment, and abuse. Mamet's rapid-fire drama exposes the so-called "mixed messages" between a fledgling college student and her professor, where the seemingly innocent nuance of their first encounter is twisted and every word becomes a weapon.

What they say:

"David Mamet has raised outrage to an art form. . . . Oleanna is... a scorcher. The woods are burning, and all of us are being seared in the fire." - Boston Globe

"Mamet's clenched fist to the gut - and intellect... a vicious and timely riff on sexual harassment and political correctness. Pinter, Albee, Miller. They're all looking over Mamet's shoulder." - New Yorker

"Wholly absorbing... a virtuoso performance... As if ripped right from the typewriter, it could not be more direct in its technique or incendiary in its ambition. . . . Oleanna is likely to provoke more arguments than any other play this year." - The New York Times

"Our foremost master of the language of moral epilepsy." - Newsweek

Cast:

John - John Pierson*
Carol - Rachel Fenton

Staff:

Directed by:
Annamaria Pileggi

Scenery - Lex Von Blommenstein
Lighting - Mark Wilson
Costumes – Scott Breihan
Properties – Meg Brinkley
Sound - Michael Perkins
Stage Manager - Kate Koch*

* represents members of Actors' Equity, the union of professional actors and stage managers


 



John Pireson, Rachel Fenton - Photo by Todd Studios

 

Critics' Reviews:

 

"Direction by Annamaria Pileggi is clear and taut; in a very wordy play, she carefully conducts the preciously few moments when each character doubts their own convictions, as well as precisely orchestrating the build to the stunning final crescendo." - KDHX

"John Pierson, who I haven't seen give anything close to a less than stellar performance, matches Fenton step for step with his role as John, her professor. Watching the pair spar in this brief, but memorable play is an unnerving joy." - Broadway World

"Oleanna is intense, revealing and all the more relevant in our increasingly voyeuristic and accusatory society than it was when it first premiered nearly 20 years ago, and powerfully compelling in this incendiary HotCity incarnation." - Ladue News

"Pileggi's direction is stripped clean of nonsense. Like a U-boat torpedo, it is on target and merciless..." - Joe Pollack