Oleanna. To 29 November.

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OLEANNA
by David Mamet

Clwyd Theatr Cymru Emlyn Williams Theatre To 29 November 2003
Mon-Sat 7.45pm Mat Sat 2.45pm
Runs 1hr 30min No interval

TICKETS: 0845 330 3565
Review: Timothy Ramsden 21 November

Perverse production still makes an impact.
It was inspired of Jonathan Church (now running Birmingham Rep, then in charge at Salisbury) to pair David Mamet's play about a female student's allegations toppling a male university teacher with a contrasting teacher/student play, Educating Rita. It's at least as inspired of Terry Hands to programme the Mamet straight after Arthur Miller's The Crucible.

In both, an apparently strong male is ruined by the accusations of a young woman. Apparently weak in social position, she's made strong by prevailing beliefs that bring the establishment in on her side.

Not that there's any close parallel between the witchcraft feared in 17th century Salem, Mass. and the equal opportunities rulings of modern-day America (Mamet's title refers satirically to an idealised land).

Mamet's lecturer is at best out-of-date and incautious in what he says to his failing student. Perhaps he's no worse in intention, but it's unsurprising she finds him offputtingly arrogant , interrupting a meeting about her work to deal with personal business - ironically, buying the real estate that relies on the continued salary she's about to threaten via the support of the university tenure committee.

Emma Lucia's production does its best to get in the way of the script. The language rhythms (in most plays actors should become word perfect; with Mamet they need to be stutter-perfect too) don't work in Welsh voices as they do in American. Instead of the claustrophobia of John's office, his power base, Mark Bailey's in-the-round setting exposes the contestants on an open, reflective platform, dissipating some of the conflict (technically, too, the production's not found a way to keep the force of the staccato speech-rhythms with backs turned).

Without John's desk, a power symbol's lost, leaving the actors to rely on sitting or standing to express power relationships, along with posture: Carol's initial ferreting for space, awkwardly noting his words while standing, transforms into a straight-backed, fury-fuelled confidence as her women's-group complaints take root.

John's not helped by having to use a mobile; there's little credibility in his repeatedly saying he can't talk right now: why doesn't he just turn the thing off? An old desk-bound landline'd be more convincing here.

It could be Lucia has it in for John: after all his talk of the liberal pursuit of ideas, his final attack on Carol is more than an instinctive slap for telling him not to call his wife 'baby' (something else more US than UK). It's a full-fledged assault that leaves her rolling on the ground. That her mumbled words in this situation indicate vindication of her views of him over expression of pain or anger shows, too, how far Carol's mired in the mindset her supporters have inculcated.

Given strong work by both cast members, the production makes an impact, for all its staging perversities. Catrin Rhys seems initially nervous, but the temperament soon shows through with an indication of how high-wired her nervous system is. It's almost pitiable to see Gwyn Vaughan Jones' academic walking over-confidently into the dangers of this different world.

But not quite pitiable. He's paid to know about the world, and the institution, he's working in. And the pursuit of knowledge argument's tendentious for someone who offers to do an informal fix on exam results and who - even in 1992 - is unaware eough to prevent a female student leaving his room and to make physical contact with her.

Unlike Miller's John Proctor, this John doesn't commit any sexual act with the unpredictable young woman over whom he has authority. But, as Lucia and her cast make clear, Mars and Venus remain light years apart.

John: Gwyn Vaughan Jones
Carol: Catrin Rhys

Director: Emma Lucia
Designer: Mark Bailey
Sound: Matthew Williams
Fight director: Terry King

2003-11-22 15:35:08