OLEANNA by DAVID MAMET
performed by
FREERANGE THEATRE COMPANY

The Black Box Theatre, St Martin's College, Lancaster,
and touring
Wednesday 11 April 2005

"When language goes rotten, all else goes rotten'
Ezra Pound (1885 – 1972)

Pulitzer laureate David Mamet (b1947) is passionately concerned about debating the psychological and ethical themes of contemporary society, and his Oleanna, first performed in 1992 in the USA, brings the thorny issue of education under the spotlight.

There's hardly a day goes by without some news about failing schools, bankrupt universities and colleges peddling ‘worthless' qualifications, and despite Tony Blair's commitment to "Education, education, education,' no-one really seems to agree on what really needs to be done.

Everyone has experience of education as former students, parents or, for some, even as teachers: it is a universal issue – and has been for millennia. Oleanna fearlessly – and brutally – tackles head-on vital questions about the nature of the learning/teaching experience: What is it all about? How can it best be done? Who sets the ‘rules'?

"Communication or interrogation?'
Should education broaden the mind, or generate learned enquiry, or just forced-feed students through hoops (and who should make the hoops, you may ask). Is is a matter of just getting bums on seats and cash into the coffers to meet the latest ‘targets'?

What part should the student play in the ‘learning process'? After years in classrooms from primary school to prison, universities to Plato-style symposia, this critic, like many readers of this site, is weary, hurt and confused about what passes for education in this country today.

"Hammer or anvil … The truth is how you see it.'
Well, whatever your views, this play is a must. I shan't give away the plot, save to note that it is set in the office of an American professor whom we meet supporting and negotiating with one of his (female) students. She is not coping with his course, and he … Suffice it to say that Mamet's well-crafted text is admirably played by Hugo Chandler (John) and Pip Chapman (Carol), under the skilful direction of Dean Taylor.

The nuances of every word come over crystal clear, the dramatic pace wonderfully tempered as the relationship between the two protagonists develops, and the workmanlike staging in the round adds a greater intimacy to the emotional punches of the drama.

"Been there, done it'
I came away from the St Martin's production drained, challenged and moved, not just because I have worked as a lecturer, but because Oleanna is a hard-hitting play about issues that no-one really seems to be able to get their head round since ‘O'-levels were abolished in the 1980s. It has also been described as "Political correctness gone mad … A cautionary tale for us all'.

This strong production served the piece wonderfully. This Lancaster-based company have a well-deserved reputation for taking quality theatre into the places that don't usually get it, and they have a triumph here. It has toured from Manchester to Whitehaven, and is back in the area again this week. Go and catch it at your nearest venue, or whenever you are free. Just go.

Copyright © 29 May 2005 Michael Nunn

OLEANNA returns to the Lancaster area this week. You can catch it at:

Tuesday 31 May; The Gregson, Moor Lane, Lancaster
Wednesday 1 June; Overton Village Hall, near Heysham
Thursday 2 June; Glasson Dock Village Hall
Friday 3 June; Church Hall, Brookhouse, near Caton

All performances begin at 7.30pm, and tickets are £7/£6.
To book seats, or for further details, telephone 01524 68677.