Mamet's 'Race' at Philadelphia Theatre Company
David Mamet's provocative courtroom drama, Race, is having a fine and fierce production at the Philadelphia Theatre Company. Here is some of what David Mamet had to say about Race and about race in America:
David Mamet's provocative courtroom drama,
Race
, is having a fine and fierce production at the Philadelphia Theatre Company.
Here is some of what David Mamet had to say about Race and about race in America:
"All drama is about lies. When the lie is exposed, the play is over. . . . My current play does have a theme, and that theme is race and the lies we tell each other on the subject."
Lies are necessary to betrayal. And, like every Mamet play, Race is about betrayal.
A high-profile client walks into a law firm. Charles (John Preston) is very rich. And white. He has been accused of rape by a young black woman. The lawyers, one white - Jack (Jordan Lage) - and one black - Henry (Ray Anthony Thomas) - create a defense, with the help of Susan (Nicole Lewis), their ambitious new hire. She is black. And young. And pretty.
The rapid-fire dialogue is soaked in Mamet's cynicism (if you're looking for uplifting, inspiring, hopeful, happy-ending entertainment, go elsewhere). Jack, probably Mamet's spokesman, believes that people are generally stupid, that everyone suffers from shame, that the courts merely create "The Pageant of Justice," and that the press is "the pillory, it is the stocks. It exists to license envy and greed."
As a culture critic, Mamet is relentless; his passion is to make us see the truth behind the comforting lie, the "sanctimony" that he feels is fundamental to America's conversation about race.
As Jack, Lage stalks the stage. He is smart and disdainful; even his eyebrow snarls. As Henry, Thomas has all the belligerence and all the insights; with his bow tie and crooked teeth, he cleverly defies our expectations of a slick lawyer. As Charles, Preston is arrogant and, finally, bewildered (his billionaire's shoes are superb). As Susan, Lewis' posture - she's never relaxed, always conscious of how she presents herself - tells us much.
The set, with its sparkly wall that seemed to belong in a second-rate restaurant, made no sense to me, and was the only flaw in this excellent production directed by Scott Zigler.
