Oleanna



**__ Overvie __****__ w __** //Oleanna//, a play by David Mamet, is perhaps one of the most controversial pieces to emerge from the 1990’s. It depicts a male professor who is accused by a female student of inappropriate sexual advances. Oleanna has sparked conflict within its audiences, as they battle with their perceptions about the depictions of women, power and misogyny within the play.


 * === Table of Contents === ||
 * * Character List ||
 * = * Historical Context ||
 * = * Synopsis ||
 * = * Audience Reaction ||
 * = * Stage Adaptation ||
 * = * Film Adaptation ||
 * = * David Mamet ||
 * = * References ||

**__Character List__** John-Professor, 40's Carol- Student, 20’s

**__Historical Context__**



When //Oleanna// was released, the Anita Hill sexual harassment case was underway. Hill came forward with allegations that Clarence Thomas, George Bush’s nominee for the Supreme Court, had sexually harassed her in the workplace. She stated that, “Thomas harassed her with inappropriate discussion of sexual acts and pornographic films after she rebuffed his invitations to date him (Rosenzweig).” Despite accusations, Thomas was elected into the Supreme Court. However, Hill allowed for hidden problems in the workplace to be uncovered and investigated. She raised public awareness of the high occurrence rate of sexual harassment and the stigma that it places on women (Rosenzweig).

**__Synopsis__** **__Act 1__** In Act 1, we meet our two characters: John, a middle-aged college Professor seeking tenure, and Carol, a young, conflicted college student. She comes across as almost inept; unable to understand certain topics and vocabulary that John throws around. John is portrayed as an elitist Professor who demeans all who enter his private office; he is narcissistic and grandiose in his ideology. John is in the midst of closing a deal on a new house that he and his wife are purchasing, when Carol enters his office, expressing concern that she doesn’t understand and is failing his class. At first, John nearly dismisses Carol, aggravated by the persistent phone calls from his wife, but then decides to help Carol with her frustrations, comparing his own student struggles to hers. This is the first time we see some sort of “attraction;” John tells Carol that if she comes to his office to work on the course, then he will award her an “A” for the semester. The Act is left slightly open to interpretation when Carol nearly reveals a secret to John, but is then cut off by another phone call. **__Act 2__**

We begin Act 2 in John’s office. There is tension from John’s opening line, soon revealing that Carol has filed a complaint against him to the Tenure Committee. In her filings, she reports that John is sexist and made unwelcome advances towards her, such as perversely placing his hand on her shoulder, and that he would give her an automatic “A” if she visited him. There is an unknown “group” that Carol refers to throughout the act, though it could be deduced that the members are other women from their class. Carol has seemingly gained a wealth of knowledge since Act 1, coming across as more sure of her convictions, though still not up to John’s vocabulary level. John’s aggravation builds throughout the Act, resulting in him restraining Carol from leaving when she attempts to excuse herself, and her crying out for help. **__Act 3__** By Act 3, Carol has undergone a metamorphosis. She has become confident with great power over John, speaking in “lawyer-ese” and discussing the institutions of power and the effect that it has had on John. He has been denied tenure and faces a possible dismissal from the university. He claims that he hasn’t been home in two days, thinking over Carol’s indictment charges and allegations, which he doesn’t realize until the end of the play, that they have been raised to rape and battery charges. By the end, John has completely unraveled, and as Carol tries to leave his office once again, offhandedly telling him not to call his wife “Baby,” he verbally and physically assaults her, becoming the person that Carol has alleged he was. One could look at the end as Carol orchestrating the abuse to take place to help her own case, however, the reaction that John had was very telling about his past and possible future interactions with female students.

**__Audience Reaction__**

After opening night of //Oleanna// at the Triad theatre and when it premiered on Broadway, producers filmed audience members giving their reaction to the play: media type="youtube" key="k2JJg-vIE2k" width="560" height="315"

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">media type="youtube" key="oiFEsApnu8w" width="420" height="315"

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">media type="youtube" key="1tALOU_Dg5I" width="420" height="315"

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">media type="youtube" key="vcwp1TQ8_bw" width="420" height="315" <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">**__Stage Adaptation__** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The premier of //Oleanna// was held at David Mamet’s own Back Bay Theater company; it was the first show to grace its stage. William H. Macy and Rebecca Pidgeon (Mamet’s wife) originated the roles, receiving rave reviews. The play was so successful it was brought to Broadway nearly a year after the Anita Hill scandal, starring both Macy and again. //Oleanna// went on to tour in London, showing at the Royal Court in 1993.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">In 2004, Julia Stiles took over the role of Carol, starring alongside Aaron Eckhart and later, Bill Pullman. Director Doug Hughes speaks about his adaptation in this clip: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">media type="youtube" key="1VfS2zNRA9Q" width="420" height="315"

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Clip from Julia Stiles/Bill Pullman Broadway version: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">media type="youtube" key="IMKpbnvaSBQ" width="420" height="315" __**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Film Adaptation **__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Starring William H. Macy and Debra Eisenstadt, and directed by Mamet himself, the movie did not receive the critical acclaim that the stage version had. Roger Ebert, famed movie critic stated,

“To my astonishment, it is not a very good film. I am not sure why. The original characters are there, and the situation, and the dialogue, and even one of the actors (Macy) is the same as on the stage. But the material never really takes hold. It seems awkward. It lacks fire and passion. Watching it was like having a pale memory of a vivid experience (Ebert).”

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Link to full film version of //Oleanna//:


 * __David Mamet__**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">**​**Born in Flossmoor, Illinois, Mamet gained his credentials from Goddard College in Vermont and Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theater in New York (“Filmakers”). The Pulitzer Prize winner gained his recognition with //Sexual Perversity in Chicago// in 1974. Many of the characters he creates are male, and <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">of a working class, although they may be working in a more unlawful way. Mamet often bases his pieces off of his own experiences, most of which are dark and translate into his intense work. Mamet was raised in an elitist household (EWB); his parents had very high expectations of him. However, when he was eleven, his parents divorced, leaving him split among the two and sent into a downward spiral. Lynn Mamet, David’s sister stated on their childhood: ​ “Suffice it to say we are not the victims of a happy childhood, there was a lot of violence, but the greatest violence was emotional. It was emotional terrorism. In my estimation we are survivors of a travel route that included a 1950’s version of Dachau and Bergen-Belson, and that we both still bear the numbers on our arms. In that sense, when [Mamet] writes, he wears short sleeves (“Filmakers”).”

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">For an even further look into the eccentric mind of Mamet, this clip shows him speaking about his “political awakening.”

media type="youtube" key="pIio8Jt7yLw" width="560" height="315" //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Oleanna //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">by David Mamet <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">YouTube <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[] (Rosenzweig) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[] (Ebert) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[] (“Filmakers”) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[]
 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Reference __**