One of America's most provocative dramatists conquers new territory with this droll comedy of errors set in a Victorian drawing room.
Anna and Claire are two bantering, scheming "women of fashion" who live together on the fringes of society. Anna has just become the mistress of a wealthy man, from whom she has received an enormous emerald. Claire, meanwhile, is infatuated with a young girl and wants to enlist the jealous Anna's help for an assignation. As the two women exchange barbs and taunt their hapless maid, Claire's inamorata arrives and sets off a crisis that puts both the valuable emerald and the women's future at risk. Mamet brings his trademark tart dialogue and impeccable plotting, spiced with Wildean wit, to this wickedly funny comedy.
"One of Mamet's most satisfying and accomplished plays, and one of the funniest American comedies in years." -New York Post
"[Mamet's characters] are at each other's throats with a wit akin to characters out of Wilde and a vengence not unlike those from Pinter, Edward Albee, or Mamet himself." -The Boston Globe
"Devastatingly funny...exceptionally clever." -The New York Times
One of America's most provocative dramatists conquers new territory with this droll comedy of errors set in a Victorian drawing room.
Anna and Claire are two bantering, scheming "women of fashion" who live together on the fringes of society. Anna has just become the mistress of a wealthy man, from whom she has received an enormous emerald. Claire, meanwhile, is infatuated with a young girl and wants to enlist the jealous Anna's help for an assignation. As the two women exchange barbs and taunt their hapless maid, Claire's inamorata arrives and sets off a crisis that puts both the valuable emerald and the women's future at risk. Mamet brings his trademark tart dialogue and impeccable plotting, spiced with Wildean wit, to this wickedly funny comedy.
Praise
"One of Mamet's most satisfying and accomplished plays, and one of the funniest American comedies in years." -New York Post
"[Mamet's characters] are at each other's throats with a wit akin to characters out of Wilde and a vengence not unlike those from Pinter, Edward Albee, or Mamet himself." -The Boston Globe
"Devastatingly funny...exceptionally clever." -The New York Times
