Female Trouble

David Mamet has been rather widely referred to as a misogynist, and Theatre Artists Studio has set out to consider the question. With David Mamet -- Mothers, Daughters and Other Loves?, a festival of scenes and monologues from Mamet’s plays, the company places a spotlight on Mamet’s complex, lovingly crafted women.

Among the plays from which scenes will be performed are Oleanna, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Dark Pony, and Reunion. A monologue selected from Mamet’s The Old Neighborhood is so long that three actresses will perform it. Mamet’s short-shorts aren’t overlooked here; a two-pager titled Australia, from a lesser-known series of plays called No One Will Be Immune, is also included.

“We do the Great Playwrights Series to give members a chance to perform work they wouldn’t normally get a chance to perform,” says TAS’ Julie Lee. “And to get more people exposed to the writings of these playwrights. We’ve done Albee, Becket, and Shakespeare, among others, in the past.”