In The Old Neighborhood David Mamet confirms his stature as a master of the American stage, a writer who can turn the most innocuous phrase into a lit fuse and a family reunion into a perfectly orchestrated firestorm of sympathy, yearning, and blistering authentic rage. In these three short plays, a middle-aged Bobby Gould returns to the old-neighborhood in a series of encounters with his past that, however briefly, open windows on his present. In "The Disappearance of the Jews," Bobby and an old buddy fantasize about finding themselves in a nostalgic shtetl paradise while revealing how lost they are in their own families. In the comfort of her kitchen, Bobby's sister "Jolly" unscrolls a list of childhood grievances that is at nice painful and hilarious. And the old girlfriend in "Deeny," faced with a man she once loved, finds herself obsessively free-associating on gardening, sex, and subatomic particles. Swerving from comedy to terror, from tenderness to anguish—with a swiftness that unsettles even as it strikes home—The Old Neighborhood is classic Mamet.
“Searing…heart-piercing…haunting and original…[Mamet’s] most emotionally accessible drama to date,”—The New York Times “Elegant and beautiful…David Mamet’s autobiographical play is full of laughter and lament.”—The New Yorker
“[Mamet’s] most personal, haunted and haunting play.”—Newsday “Riveting… luminous…beautifully rendered…a significant development in Mamet’s career.”—San Francisco Examiner
In The Old Neighborhood David Mamet confirms his stature as a master of the American stage, a writer who can turn the most innocuous phrase into a lit fuse and a family reunion into a perfectly orchestrated firestorm of sympathy, yearning, and blistering authentic rage. In these three short plays, a middle-aged Bobby Gould returns to the old-neighborhood in a series of encounters with his past that, however briefly, open windows on his present. In "The Disappearance of the Jews," Bobby and an old buddy fantasize about finding themselves in a nostalgic shtetl paradise while revealing how lost they are in their own families. In the comfort of her kitchen, Bobby's sister "Jolly" unscrolls a list of childhood grievances that is at nice painful and hilarious. And the old girlfriend in "Deeny," faced with a man she once loved, finds herself obsessively free-associating on gardening, sex, and subatomic particles. Swerving from comedy to terror, from tenderness to anguish—with a swiftness that unsettles even as it strikes home—The Old Neighborhood is classic Mamet.
Praise
“Searing…heart-piercing…haunting and original…[Mamet’s] most emotionally accessible drama to date,”—The New York Times “Elegant and beautiful…David Mamet’s autobiographical play is full of laughter and lament.”—The New Yorker
“[Mamet’s] most personal, haunted and haunting play.”—Newsday “Riveting… luminous…beautifully rendered…a significant development in Mamet’s career.”—San Francisco Examiner
