Glengarry Glen Ross

This article is about the play by David Mamet. For the movie adaption, see Glengarry Glen Ross (film).

Glengarry Glen Ross is the title of a 1984 Pulitzer Prize and Tony-winning play by David Mamet. The play shows parts of two days in the lives of four desperate Chicago real estate agents who are prepared to engage in any number of unethical and/or illegal acts (from lies and flattery to bribery, threats and intimidation to burglary) in order to sell undesirable real estate to unwilling prospective buyers. The play draws partly on Mamet's experiences of life in a Chicago real estate office, where he worked briefly as a typist in the late 1960s. The title of the play comes from the names of two of the real estate developments being peddled by the salesmen characters.

Language

The play is noteworthy for the flow of persuasive patter of the salesmen characters, who spend much time trying to convince customers, the oily office manager, and even each other to give them what they want: down payments for real estate, access to valuable sales leads, and even co-operation in conspiracies. The play also shocked audiences with its (for the time) raw language, with its roughly 150 uses of the word "fuck" or variations, as in this early scene, when desperate salesman Shelley Levene tries to persuade the office manager, Williamson, to give Levene prospects (or "leads") to sell to:

LEVENE: I need the leads. I need them now. Or I'm gone, and you're going to miss me, John, I swear to you.

WILLIAMSON: Murray...

LEVENE: ...you talk to Murray...

WILLIAMSON: I have. And my job is to marshal those leads...

LEVENE: Marshal the leads...marshal the leads? What the fuck, what bus did you get off of, we're here to fucking sell. Fuck marshaling the leads. What the fuck talk is that? What the fuck talk is that? Where did you learn that? In school?

(pause)

That's "talk," my friend, that's "talk." Our job is to sell. I'm the man to sell. I'm getting garbage.

(pause)

You're giving it to me, and what I'm saying is it's fucked.

Controversy

There's significant controversy over lines in Glengarry Glen Ross which are racist against Asian Indians."Mamet play to premiere in S.F." Craig, P. Contra Costa Times. February 27, 2004. As a result, Mamet removed the language from the latest Broadway revival.

Productions

Glengarry Glen Ross was first presented at the Cottlesloe Theatre of the Royal National Theatre in London on September 21, 1983. The original cast was:

Shelly Levene.............Derek Newark John Williamson...........Karl Johnson Dave Moss.................Trevor Ray George Aaronow............James Grant Richard Roma..............Jack Shepherd James Lingk...............Tony Haygarth Baylen....................John Tams

Glengarry Glen Ross premiered in the United States at the Goodman Theatre of the Arts Institute of Chicago in a Chicago Theatre Groups, Inc. production on February 6, 1984. The play opened on Broadway on March 25, 1984 at the John Golden Theatre, in a production directed by Gregory Mosher. The original American cast is below, with Lane Smith replacing William L. Petersen on Broadway.

Shelly Levene.............Robert Prosky John Williamson...........J. T. Walsh Dave Moss.................James Tolkan George Aaronow............Mike Nussbaum Richard Roma..............Joe Mantegna James Lingk...............William L. Petersen Baylen....................Jack Wallace

The play received numerous Tony Award nominations, including those for the director, Mosher, and actors Prosky and Mantegna, with Mantegna winning in the Best Featured Actor category.

The award-winning 1992 film version of Glengarry, Glen Ross starred Jack Lemmon, Kevin Spacey, Al Pacino, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Jonathan Pryce, and Alec Baldwin, in a role written especially for him by Mamet for the film.

In 2005, Glengarry Glen Ross was revived on Broadway, opening on May 1, 2005 at the Bernard B Jacobs Theatre (formerly the Royale Theatre), in a production directed by Joe Mantello. The revival cast was:

Richard Roma..............Liev Schreiber Shelly Levine.............Alan Alda John Williamson...........Frederick Weller Dave Moss.................Gordon Clapp George Aaronow............Jeffrey Tambor James Lingk...............Tom Wopat Baylen....................Jordan Lage

The revival received numerous Tony Award nominations, including Best Featured Actor nominations for Alda, Clapp, and Schreiber, with Schreiber taking home the prize. The production also won a Tony for Best Revival of a Play.

Glengarry Glen Ross has also been produced as a radio play for BBC Radio 3, featuring Hector Elizondo, Stacy Keach, Bruce Davison, and Alfred Molina as Roma, and first airing March 20, 2005.

References

External links

Glengarry Glen Ross on Broadway