David Mamet loves a minimal vista for his plays. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Glengarry Glen Ross, Speed-the-Plow, Oleanna, and American Buffalo has variously confined his actors to an office, a junk shop, a restaurant booth, and in the case of A Life in the Theatre for the most part the action is limited to a shelf and two chairs in the tiny dressing room backstage at any one of a thousand repertory theatres in America.
It’s likely Mamet believes his dark humor, sharp wit and provocative dialogue will incite his audiences a little more if they share a claustrophobic space with the actors. It certainly works in the black box surroundings of Lee Street Theatre.
A Life In The Theatre is a story of hope and ambition vs. despair and surrender. It’s also a reflection of the eternal funny side of the theatre. Comedy or drama, your local repertory or little theatre is a place to laugh. A Life in the Theatre is no exception. John, played by Brian Romans, is an up and coming young actor enjoying the first fruits of success. Robert, played by Craig Kolkebeck, is watching his career decline and his dreams dissipate.
First produced in February 1977 and inspired by the playwright’s own abbreviated and unsuccessful career on the boards, the play is an everyman portrayal of an actor’s lot. I don’t think Mamet intends that John and Robert are necessarily the same people the whole way through the play, just snapshots of the waxing and waning of a million careers in the theatre. And how go the careers go the lives.
Mamet is occasionally accused of repetitive, staccato dialogue and gratuitous profanity. So you’d think well over a dozen scene changes in 80 non-stop minutes would cause this production to be littered with non-stop monosyllabic, four-letter incidental exchanges. Amazingly, Mamet-Speak it is not.
Despite some scenes racing through at three sentences or less, A Life in the Theatre maintains remarkable continuity and more than its fair share of laughs. The dialogue may be vital to that end but the director and the actors are crucial.
Claudia Galup has once more excelled directing an immensely difficult play. Craig Kolkebeck and Brian Romans are nothing less than superb illustrating the fall and rise of Joe Blow the actor. All their world’s a stage and they are merely players; but Salisbury is blessed to have these extraordinary players.
Kolkebeck’s Robert squeezes a lifetime of regret into his increasingly poignant lines – and he ages before your eyes. Romans delivers every nuance of John’s increasingly confident, street savvy character’s experience with equal exceptional ability. Add to that both actors’ gift for delivering a punch line and you have a complete package.
Robert, initially brash, conceited and superior, disintegrates scene by scene. Kolkebeck’s almost understated delivery is perfect, culminating in a despondent farewell to his beloved limelight.
John the apprentice, reserved and compliant at the start of his career, slowly recognizes his ability and simultaneously the house of cards of his mentor. Brian’s characterization is almost flawless during the rise of the Romans empire.
Edith Oliver in the New Yorker, writing about the original New York production, said, ”Mr. Mamet has written – in gentle ridicule; in jokes, broad and tiny; and in comedy, high and low, – a love letter to the theatre. It is quite a feat, and he has pulled it off.”
Lee Street has also pulled it off. A Life in the Theatre: October 15-17 and 22-24; 7:30 p.m. Lee Street Theatre at the Looking Glass Artists Collective, 405 N. Lee Street, Salisbury, N.C. 28144. Admission $10. Senior Citizens/Student IDs $8 (For Mature Audiences).
Notes: Kudos to Christin Duncan: (on)stage manager; Chris Herring: lights; Robert Jones: Joe Blow everyman; Cindi Graham: Jill of all trades; and Claudia Galup hopefully leaving hospital in time to see her latest triumph.