[NEohioPAL] Glengarry Glen Ross at Oberlin College, March 4-8 in Little Theater

[Alexander Birnie]

OBERLIN THEATER & DANCE PROGRAM PRESENTS

GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS



by David Mamet
Josh Sobel '09, director
March 4-8, 2009  8PM
Little Theater, Oberlin College


TICKETS
CAST
PRODUCTION TEAM
PRODUCTION NOTES
BIOS
PRESS/MEDIA
EXTRAS

[T&D's HOMEPAGE]


This March, Honors Candidate Josh Sobel '09 will direct a cast of  
seven Oberlin actors, including Honors Acting Candidate Enrico Nassi,  
in David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize-winning Glengarry Glen Ross, an honest  
and brutal look at the dog-eat-dog mentality of the real estate  
business in the 1980s.  The play tells the gripping, darkly humorous  
story of four salesmen and the cruel contest that pits them against  
one another, initiating a whirlwind forty-eight hours of bribery,  
blackmail, and theft.  Based on the author's own experience working in  
a real estate office, the play offers a captivating, often shocking  
insight into the world of men who, in the words of top salesman Ricky  
Roma, "live on their wits."

Glengarry Glen Ross will be performed at Oberlin College's Little  
Theater Wednesday through Sunday, March 4 through 8 at 8 pm.  There  
will be no matinee performances. This production is sponsored by the  
Oberlin College Theater and Dance Program.


Tickets:
$3 In Advance
$5 At the Door
Tickets are available by calling Central Ticket Service at (440)  
775-8169 or 1-800-371-0178. Seating in Little Theater is limited and  
there is no late seating. Little Theater is wheel chair accessible and  
parking is free, located behind Hall Auditorium.
[directions to Little Theater]


**PROMOTION**
BUY ONE TICKET FOR WEDNESDAY OR THURSDAY
GET ONE TICKET FREE!

Cast
Enrico Nassi '09			Ricky Roma	[Read an interview]


Andrew Mooney '09		Shelly Levene

Aaron Profumo '12		John Williamson

Alex Huntsberger '09	Dave Moss

Kevin Carr '09			George Aaronow

John West '19			James Lingk

Philip Waller '11			Baylen







Artistic / Production Team
Director

Stage Manager
Set Design
Costume Design
Lighting Design

Original Music

Asst. Director
Asst. Stage Manager
Dramaturg
Technical Director
Scenic Painters
Properties
Asst. Lighting Design
Recording Engineer
Box Office
Poster Design
Photography
Publicity

Josh Sobel '09

Sarah Gasser '10
Anya Kazimierski '11
Nicole Balin '12
Mike Rauscher '11

Ralph Jones, Arnold Lee '09

Elise Desiderio '09
Daniel Kessler '11
Heather Harvey '11
Amir Weg '10
Nick Wirtz '09, Rachel Lambert '09
Noah Morris '12
Mary Heatwole '12
Hunter McCurry '10
Barbara Kessler
Rachel Saudek '11
Rachel Saudek '11
Alex Birnie '09, Jenny Gaeng '11, Emma Louise Rodriguez '11
Philip Waller '11, Emma Walton '10, Marley Zeno '11

Production Notes
       Glengarry Glen Ross is "a very brutal play," says director Josh  
Sobel. In depicting the morally uninhibited actions of desperate men  
during a time of economic instability, Sobel hopes the play will  
"force us to take a look at ourselves, our own business practices and  
values, and see just how brutal and desperate we can be." He hopes the  
audience will draw a parallel between Glengarry's economic climate and  
the current recession. "We're in another time where jobs are being cut  
left and right," he continues. "Who's going to survive that cut, who's  
going to get shafted, what's going to make the difference . . . and  
what rules are you willing to bend and break to stay afloat?"
     A lot, as it turns out. Mamet's salesmen find themselves  
competing not only for a Cadillac car, but also against the imminent  
firing of the two lowest sellers. "It's every man for himself," says  
Sobel. And the playing field gets dirty, culminating with a break-in  
at the real estate office and the disappearance of the firm's most  
important sales leads, a valuable list of the names and contact  
information of potential clients.
      In selecting his honors project, Sobel wanted to choose a play  
that afforded him a challenge. One distinctive-and difficult-facet of  
David Mamet's writing is the rapid, verbally charged dialogue that is  
nowhere more evident than in Glengarry Glen Ross. "Mamet has created,  
with this text, a piece of music," says Sobel. By analyzing the  
rhythms of the high-energy, profanity-ridden patter of the salesmen,  
Sobel and his actors aim to "let the text and the language bring out  
the characters and bring out what's at the core [of the play] . . .  
everything else flows organically from that."
      	Glengarry Glen Ross will also feature original jazz composed by  
Faculty-in-Residence Ralph Jones, who played the saxophone in the  
Theater and Dance Department's Fall 2008 production of Death of a  
Salesman, and Conservatory saxophone major Arnold Lee '09. "Every time  
I read this play, I get this very gritty jazz thing going in my head,"  
Sobel explains. "So I thought, well, we have one of the greatest jazz  
departments in the country, why not utilize that?" A steadfast  
believer in the rewards of collaboration, he is thrilled to be able to  
highlight their work and to "have something really original involved  
in this show, something brand new."
      	The rest of the production promises to be just as gritty. "A  
lot of people don't like the play," Sobel admits. "It's very  
controversial. The play contains lots of four-letter words, lots of  
coarse language, lots of adult themes, and lots of racial slurs." But  
for him, the authenticity is part of what makes Glengarry Glen Ross so  
brilliant. "I say that it's a play that should be greeted openly. As  
brutal as it is, as coarse as it is, and-to some people-as offensive  
as it is, it's the truth and you can't really shy away from that."

Bios
David Mamet (Playwright)

David Mamet is the author of many plays and one-acts, including Sexual  
Perversity in Chicago, Duck Variations (1975), The Water Engine  
(1977), American Buffalo (1977), A Life in the Theater (1977), Speed- 
the-Plow (1988), Oleanna (1992), The Old Neighborhood(1997), and The  
Boston Marriage (2002).  In 1994 he won the Pulitzer Prize in Drama  
for Glengarry Glen Ross.  He has also written various screenplays and  
directed ten films.  He is a founding member of the St. Nicholas  
Theater Company in Chicago and Atlantic Theater Company in New York  
City.


Josh Sobel '09 (Director)

Josh Sobel is a senior theatre major concentrating in directing from  
Rochester, NY. Past Oberlin directing credits include Cabaret, The  
Seventeenth of June, An Interview, and Hotline. Oberlin acting credits  
include Death of a Salesman (Bernard), The Skin of Our Teeth(George  
Antrobus), Omnium Gatherum (Khalid), Major Barbara (Morrison), Welcome  
to the Moon (Vinnie), and Godspell. Other credits include The Oberlin  
Playwrights Festival (Co-Producer), Eight at 8: The Third Annual  
First-/Second-Year Showcase (Producer), The General of Hot Desire  
(Stage Manager), and ReelPolitik (Asst. Stage Manager). He is an  
alumnus of the National Theater Institute semester of study at the  
Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, where he took part in an ensemble  
project called OVID, an adaptation of The Tales of Ovid. He had the  
privilege of serving as Assistant Stage Manager for three original  
musicals at Barrington Stage Company (Pittsfield, MA), produced by  
Tony Award-winning composer William Finn, and this past summer he  
attended an eight-day directing intensive program through Yale  
University. He plans to head to Chicago after graduation to begin  
making his way in the theatre. He thanks his family for all of their  
support and his late aunt Janet Bookspan for believing in this life of  
his.

Press/Media
For media inquiries please contact Hall Publicity at 440.775.8171

Gallery/Extras
Interviews

An Interview with Honors Acting Candidate Enrico Nassi '09 (Ricky Roma)

VISIT US ON THE WEB AT

new.oberlin.edu/theater-dance
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