[NEohioPAL]A Review: Oleanna at Boulveard Theatre

[Kathleen Cromie]

Oleanna: Young woman accuses patronizing but noble proffessor of sexual 
harassment.  Searing commentary on witch-hunts or most sexist play ever?

Answer: Both.

Let's start with the good, as there's much to applaud.  The performances are 
fearless - and in this play, that really says something.  Despite a slightly 
post-modern need to label reports and lists with large sitckers reading "THE 
REPORT" and "THE LIST," the direction was wonderfully restrained, which is a 
blessing as the play hardly needs added theatrics.

I admit to thinking that the bulge in the lead actor's slacks in the first 
act perhaps shed whole new light on the sexual atmophere that "Carol" would 
later claim was part of the meeting.  And when the characters held each 
other in that same act, all I could think of was a line from Soapdish: "The 
rocking is good.  Keep the rocking."  But beyond those two nit-picky points, 
the only criticism to be found lies in the play itself.

*SPOILERS ALERT*

At first, I was resistant to my friend's claim that this was a sexist play.  
Because I knew someone *exactly* like "Carol" in college I could see it as 
simply two self-absorbed people, one dangerously bitter and angry, colliding 
in a nasty way.  But the more I watched the more I picked up on the one 
aspect of the play that catapults it from a story in which the female 
character happens to be the baddie to full-on Uppity-women-suck status:  The 
Group.

Who is The Group?  They are the feminists on this AnyCampus and they are 
tie-you-to-the-train-tracks, soon-my-death-ray-will-destroy-Metropolis evil.

They take the scared and angry young girl "Carol" starts off as, give her a 
sensible hair-do, soft-lined briefcase, and an all black/dark wardrobe 
makeover (to match the metaphorical hat, no doubt), and tell her to relay 
the message to our hapless hero that they will drop the phoney rape charge 
for certain things.

Now did Mamet take this point to at least pretend he wasn't just as shrewish 
a victim as Carol becomes?  Did he attempt to acknowledge that the feminist 
movement is at least staffed with human beings?  He could have, easily, by 
making their demands follow along the lines of a rape crisis center or 
sexual harassment and/or self-defense seminars for students and faculty.  
Then we could have had some true ambiguity in their motives - could the ends 
possibly justify the means?

But, no, they want to ban books.    Oh, and the professor is no longer 
allowed to privately refer to his wife as "baby."

The "baby" part I can almost go along with, though, because it, like the 
ending, feels like such a tacked-on cop out.  Mamet can't seem to admit that 
he's writing an above-average woman-in-peril movie of the week (but with a 
man as the victim) and half-heartedly tries to give the victim some vices of 
his own.  But he can't bring himself to committ to the idea, as the 
professor's main vice seems to be that he's willing to take a personal phone 
call in front of a student.  The height of this insensitivity came in the 
first act, but Mamet tells us twice that the phone call was going on before 
the big-bad-student walked uninvited into the office (without even a 
scheduled appointment, make no mistake).  He couldn't even let you suspect 
the professor was talking privately in front of a student during a scheduled 
meeting.  This failed attempt at making the innocent, if naive, victim 
appear human is what makes the violent ending such an obviously last-ditch 
effort to salvage some honesty.

Speaking of honesty, I know that the only reason most people read reviews is 
to see if they should go see the show.  Honestly?  Absolutely.  It is 
quickly-paced, thought-provoking, and well executed.  This production 
deserves far better than a Mamet of audience (where the viewers out-number 
the actors, but only because it's a small cast).

It is wonderful theater - but like much of the best theater ever created 
there's a good guy, a bad-guy, and you'll never confuse who's who.

Sincerely,
Kathleen "K.C." Cromie



"They're like crack!" Jason Isaacs (Lucious Malfoy) on why he was so 
addicted to the Harry Potter books that he drove while reading them.




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