“Glengarry Glen Ross” won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1984, and in its 107 pages, the play contains 219 words that cannot be printed in this newspaper.
OK, so 145 of them are variations on one word. And it starts with “f.”
That (expletive) David Mamet is America’s meanest playwright. And that (expletive) has spawned a whole generation of even more venal and less artful (expletive) disciples, including the widely praised Neil LaBute (“The Shape of Things”) and the most recent Pulitzer-winner, Tracy Letts (“August: Osage County”).
Mamet literally pushed some audiences to violence with 1992’s “Oleanna,” his hot-button exploration of sexual harassment on a college campus. He eviscerated Hollywood’s power structure in 1998’s “Speed-The-Plow.” And in “Glengarry Glen Ross,” which the Denver Center Theatre Company opens on Thursday, he turns his ferocious pen on cutthroat real-estate salesmen.
Mamet & Co. are button- pushing provocateurs who explore the underside of anything that has a seamy underside, particularly the most unsavory aspects of misogynistic, male behavior.
Theater of cruelty can be traced (with gender impunity) at least as far back as Euripides (“Medea”). More recent peddlers include Tennessee Williams (“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”) and Edward Albee (“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”). Apparently there’s no end to the stage conversations we might have about man’s vast inhumanity toward man — and woman.
In Christopher Bigsby’s new book, “Neil LaBute, Stage and Cinema,” the playwright is asked about the hostility his stories often engender in audiences, to which he bluntly responds, “Isn’t that the job description?”
But what’s new is the proliferation of profanity to express that cruelty. And where is the artfulness in an unending torrent of obscenity-laced dialogue? You can count the profanities Martha and Big Daddy uttered on one hand. But Procter & Gamble doesn’t make enough soap to keep up with Mamet’s pottymouths.
Denver Center artistic director Kent Thompson admits there is no artistry, per se, in profanity or blatant cruelty.
“When used gratuitously or simply for shock value, each can actually diminish a performance,” he said. “But when profanity and cruelty are portrayed for aesthetic ends — most especially to portray life as it really is, rather than how we hope it might be, the effect can be bracing, humorous, troubling and revelatory.”
“Glengarry” director Marco Barricelli doesn’t think Mamet uses profanity as the object of his art in this play. Rather, it’s used “as a means to illuminate and make a point.” Barricelli believes if anything, Mamet’s profanity has actually lost its shock value since the play was first staged 24 years ago.
“If you were to be a fly on the wall in a questionable real-estate office, you’d find this language no different from what you’d hear there,” he said, “except that Mamet elevates it to the level of slang- poetry. By isolating and framing it in the context of a play, and his very specific characterizations, it seems heightened. In fact, it is true to life.”
That dichotomy, Barricelli believes, is what actually makes Mamet a genius — “one of the greatest writers for the theater that America has produced in the past century.”
Thompson agrees that the profanity in “Glengarry” is an honest representation of the visceral rawness of this macho, cutthroat competitive world of salesmen. Beyond that, it reveals on the page a true master at work.
“Unique stage poetry”
“Mamet includes a lot of profanity — but always with the same rhythmic and aesthetic judgment that he uses to craft all of his language,” Thompson said. “Every word, pause, ellipsis and, yes, profane word adds to the creation of Mamet’s unique stage poetry.
“As for cruelty, it is a human behavior far too pervasive not to use in the creation of relevant plays. And cruelty has formed the heart of some of the great dramas of classical and contemporary theater — from ‘King Lear’ to ‘Glengarry Glen Ross.’ ”
But there’s cruelty and then there’s LaBute’s “Bash,” which includes a playlet in which a Mormon father does nothing as he watches his infant crawl under a bedsheet and suffocate. And Mamet’s disciples are not a uniquely American breed, either.
Right in line is Englishman Patrick Marber, whose 2004 “Closer” includes this now infamous response by a man who learns he’s being betrayed by his lover: “Thank you. Thank you for your honesty. Now (expletive) off and die, you (expletive)-up slag.”
Or brilliantly twisted Irishman Martin McDonagh, whose wildly exaggerated violence grows almost cartoonish in “The Pillowman,” which in 2003 included outrageous tales like foster parents crucifying and burying a young girl alive.
Ironically, while Mamet’s followers have only pushed the shock value of cruelty more and more, he’s actually gone a bit soft in the past decade. He wrote the sweet film “State & Main,” the period lesbian play “Boston Marriage,” the patriotic CBS military TV serial “The Unit,” and the recent hilarious Broadway political comedy “November,” which opens Oct. 17 at the Avenue Theater.
About the cruelest thing Mamet has done lately is have a cop snap a kitty’s neck on an intense episode of FX’s “The Shield” that he directed.
Barricelli even asks, in retrospect, does “Glengarry” even qualify as cruel anymore?
“One has to decide, while watching this play, if it is cruel to win at all costs; to stay above water; to excel in what has been laid out as the parameters of one’s job, to save your family,” he said.
“Mamet does not condone or condemn the behavior of the characters. He does not dictate. It is up to us, the audience, to decide how to interpret their behavior.”
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
“Glengarry Glen Ross” ticket information
Drama. Presented by the Denver Center Theatre Company at the Ricketson Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex. Written by David Mamet. Directed by Marco Barricelli. Starring Mike Hartman, Vince Nappo, Lawrence Hecht and Michael Santo. Through Nov. 22. 6:30 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays; 7:30 p.m. Fridays; 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays. $34-$51. 303-893-4100, King Soopers or .
Mean speech on stage, before and after Mamet
Cruel dialogue exchanges are familiar to stage audiences, but the proliferation of profanity to express that cruelty is a trend some trace to the emergence of David Mamet. Compare the tone of dialogue that follows from playwrights who came before and after Mamet:
Before Mamet
From “Medea,” Euripides (431 B.C.)
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Medea: As a man, you’re the worst there is. That’s all I’ll say about you, no trace of manhood. . . . It isn’t courage or firm resolution to hurt your family and then confront them face to face, but a total lack of shame, the greatest of all human sicknesses. …
Jason: I chose you as my wife above them all, and that has proved to be a hateful marriage — it has destroyed me. You’re not a woman. You’re a she-lion. Your nature is more bestial than Scylla, the Tuscan monster.
— Translated by Ian Johnston
From “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” Edward Albee (1962)
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Martha: I looked at you tonight and you weren’t there. … And I’m gonna howl it out, and I’m not gonna give a damn what I do and I’m gonna make the biggest (expletive) explosion you’ve ever heard.
George: Try and I’ll beat you at your own game.
Martha: Is that a threat George, huh?
George: It’s a threat, Martha.
Martha: You’re gonna get it, baby.
George: Be careful Martha. I’ll rip you to pieces.
Martha: You’re not man enough. You haven’t the guts.
George: Total war.
Martha: Total.
From “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” Tennessee Williams (1958)
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Brick: Please just let me go home. Leave the place to Goober and Mae.
Big Daddy: Leave the place? Who said I was gonna leave the place? I’ll outlive you! I’ll bury you!
Mamet himself
From “Sexual Perversity in Chicago,” Mamet (1974):
Danny: (Expletive).
Deborah: That’s very good. “(Expletive),” good. Get it out. Let it all out.
Danny: You (expletive).
Deborah: We’ve established that.
From “Glengarry Glen Ross,” Mamet (1984):
Shelly Levene: What the (expletive) are you? You’re a (expletive) secretary. (Expletive) you. That’s my message to you: (Expletive) you and you can kiss my (expletive) and if you don’t like it, baby, I’m going across the street to Jerry Graff, period, (expletive) you.
From “Glengarry Glen Ross,” Mamet (1984):
Moss: Oh, (expletive) …
Roma: [cutting him off] (Expletive) you, Dave. You know you got a big mouth. You make a close, this whole place stinks with your (expletive) for a week — how much you just ingested. Oh, what a big man you are! “Hey, let me buy you a pack of gum. I’ll show you how to chew it.” Whoof! Your pal closes, and all that comes out of your mouth is bile. Ooh, how (expletive)-up you are!
Moss: Who’s my pal, Ricky? Hmm? What are you? And what are you, Ricky? Huh? Bishop Sheen? What the (expletive) are you, Mr. Slick? Who — what the (expletive) are you, “Friend to the working man”? Big deal! (EXPLETIVE)YOU! You got the memory of a (expletive) fly! I never liked you, anyway.”
From “Oleanna,” Mamet (1992):
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John [to his student, Carol]: Get out! [Into phone, to wife]: No, no, it’s going to be all right. I. I can’t talk now, baby. [To Carol]: Get out of here.
Carol: I’m going.
John: Good.
Carol [exiting]: . . . And don’t call your wife “baby.”
John: What?
Carol: Don’t call your wife baby . . . You heard what I said.
[Carol starts to leave the room. John grabs her and begins to beat her.]
John: You vicious little (expletive). You think you can come in here with your political correctness and destroy my life? [He knocks her to the floor.] After how I treated you . . . ? You should be . . . Rape you . . .? Are you kidding me . . . ?
[He picks up a chair, raises it above his head, and advances on her.]
I wouldn’t touch you with a 10-foot pole. You little (expletive). . . .
Pictured above are Elgin Kelley and Dan O’Neill in The Avenue Theater’s 2007 staging of David Mamet’s nasty game of gender politics, “Oleanna.” Photo courtesy of The Avenue Theater.
Since Mamet
From “Hurlyburly,” David Rabe (1984)
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Eddie: Just because you’re Jewish, doesn’t mean you’re (expletive) Freud.
Artie: Just because you’re whatever the (expletive) you are, doesn’t mean you’re whatever the (expletive) you think you are.
From “Hurlyburly,” Rabe (1984)
Phil: You know, he could choke on his own spit. You know that? I would feel nothing. No, no. I would feel glee.
From “The Shape of Things,” Neil Labute (2001)
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Evelyn: The only thing that would help him is a knife right through his (expletive) throat.
From “The Pillowman,” Martin McDonagh (2003)
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Tupolski: No, there’s nothing wrong with that story. There’s nothing in that story you would say the person who wrote this story is a sick (expletive) scummy (expletive). No.
From “August: Osage County,” Tracy Letts (2007)
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Barbara (to her mother): You were both (expletive)-up. (Beat). You were (expletive)-up. (Beat). You’re (expletive)-up.
Violet (to her daughter): You had better understand this, you smug little ingrate. There is at least one reason (your father) (isn’t here anymore), and that’s you.
From “Our House,” Theresa Rebeck (2008)
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Alice: If you don’t (expletive) clean up the bathroom by the time I get home, I swear to you I will cut your (expletive) heart out with a pair of nail clippers.
— Compiled by John Moore
What’s your favorite mean speech?
Add them to the bottom of this story as comments. But keep them clean, (use expletive in place of profanities), or we’ll have to delete your quotes, and we don’t want to have to do that!
This week’s openings
Opening Tuesday, through Oct. 26: National touring production of “The Drowsy Chaperone,” Buell Theatre
Thursday-Nov. 22: Denver Center Theatre Company’s “Glengarry Glen Ross,” Ricketson Theatre
Friday-Nov. 14: The Avenue’s “November”
Friday-Nov. 9: Evergreen Players’ “Night Watch”
Friday-Nov. 1: Backstage’s “The Mystery of Irma Vep” Breckenridge
Friday-Nov. 8: Spotlight’s “Funny Money”
Friday-Nov 8: Theater Company of Lafayette’s “Sherlock Holmes and the Doom of Devilsmoor”
Friday-Nov. 2: Festival Playhouse’s “It Was a Dark and Stormy Night” Arvada
Friday-Nov. 8: E-Project’s “Mooncalf and Silverheels” Lakewood
Saturday-Nov 15: Paragon’s “The Glass Menagerie,” Crossroads Theatre
This week’s closings
Today, Oct. 12: Union Colony Dinner Theatre’s “Jekyll & Hyde” Greeley
Today, Oct. 12, Oct. 12: Germinal Stage-Denver’s “Tiny Alice”
Today: Aurora Fox’s “Escanaba In Love”
Saturday, Oct. 18: Curious Theatre’s “Curse of the Starving Class”
Saturday, Oct. 18: El Centro Su Teatro’s “Braided Sorrow”
Saturday, Oct. 18: Stage Left’s “Wit” Salida
Oct. 19: Performance Now’s “Pump Boys and Dinettes” Lakewood
Oct. 19: Bas Bleu’s “Pure Piaf: The Life and Music of Edith Piaf” Fort Collins
Oct. 19: TheatreWorks’ “The Grapes of Wrath” Colorado Springs
Oct. 19: Denver Civic Theatre’s “Magdalene, Woman of Light”
This week’s audio podcast
Running Lines with . . . Georgia Engel. This week, listen to some of Denver Post theater critic John Moore’s interview excerpts with one of the stars of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” who is coming to Denver next week in the national touring production of “The Drowsy Chaperone.” To listen,
You’ll be taken to a miniplayer. Once there, click on the triangular “play” button and the podcast will begin playing without your having to download. Or, simply right-click on the “download MP3” option to save a copy to your own desktop. Recorded Oct. 7, 2008. Run time: 15 minutes.
Most recent theater openings
“Biloxi Blues.” Neil Simon’s acclaimed autobiographical comedy about an Army recruit in World War II. Fifteen percent discount for military personnel. Through Oct. 26. Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St., Colorado Springs, 719-634-5583 or
“The Drowsy Chaperone.” National touring production about a theater lover whose favorite 1928 musical comes to life in his bedroom. Tuesday through Oct. 26. Buell Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex, 303-893-4100 or
“Haunted” An original look at Colorado’s most notoriously haunted locations. It’s a Halloween-themed exploration of the paranormal in Colorado. Through Nov. 2. Hunger Artists, at the Byers-Evans House, 1310 Bannock St., 303-893-5438 or .
“Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” August Wilson’s 1911 story looks at boarders in a Pittsburgh lodging house, when the children of recently freed slaves journeyed to the booming industrial North in search of prosperity and their own new identities. Through Nov. 1. Shadow Theatre, 1468 Dayton St., Aurora, 720-857-8000 or .
“Noises Off.” Uproarious farce follows the stage antics — on and off — of an inept acting troupe as it stumbles from bumbling dress rehearsal to disastrous closing night. Through Nov. 1. Denver Center Theatre Company at the Stage Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex, 303-893-4100 or .
“The Oldest Profession.” Paula Vogel’s comedy about aging prostitutes who reminisce about their early days in the profession. Through Oct. 26. openstage etc., Armstrong Hotel, 259 S. College Ave., Fort Collins, 970-221-6730 or .
“Pump Boys and Dinettes.” Countrified musical tribute to life by the roadside gas station. Through Oct. 19. Performance Now at the Lakewood Cultural Center, 470 S. Allison Parkway, 303-987-7845 or .
“Sleuth.” Anthony Shaffer’s popular mystery about an innocuous round of cocktails that develops into a multilayered thriller. Through Nov. 8. Presented by the Firehouse Theatre Company at the John Hand Theatre, 7653 E. First Place, 303-562-3232 or .
“Tales of the Night” Three classic horror stories, just in time for Halloween: “Sorry, Wrong Number,” “The Hitch-Hiker” and “The War of the Worlds.” Through Nov. 8. Victorian Playhouse, 4201 Hooker St., 303-433-4343 or .
“Wit” Margaret Edson’s Pulitzer-winning play about the physical and emotional journey a scholarly woman takes when she is diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Through Oct. 18. Stage Left, 300 W. Sackett St., Salida, 719-539-8539 or .
– Compiled by John Moore
Complete theater listings
Go to our complete list of every currently running production in Colorado, including summaries, run dates, addresses, phones and links to every company’s home page.
