theater review
Mamet’s ‘The Woods;’ an ORT bore
By Jonathan Seigle
Oi *h« Emerald
ORT is to be praised for bringing new
theater to Eugene Yet their selection of
David Mamet's "The Woods" is a bust
It’s just not a good play
Time was that a playwright had to go to
New York for exposure Thanks to
regional theaters in such places as
Providence, Louisville, or Minneapolis,
new writers are paying their dues and
gaining acceptance outside saturated
New York Nowhere is this more evident
than Chicago where a whole slew of
talented playwrights are making it a real
theater town Leading them is David
Mamet
"The Woods," however, is not
Mamet's best It's not even Mamet's
good It's trite, shallow, and worst of all
boring
Two very uninteresting people leave
the city for a deep country tryst The
potential is there for tough theater Two
people with little to do but talk A writer's
delight. But Ruth and Nicholas are far
from delightful
It's an actors play With no real action
to distract, each word, each speech must
be carefully conceived It's all the cast
has to do: talk Yet it's painfully obvious
from the very beginning that director
Robert Webb and his cast do not under
stand this.
The show begins with Webb delivering
a brief description of what the audience
is to expect What sort of show needs
that? He concludes with a question.
What is it that makes relationships
work?’’ It's clear that he believes this
relationship is somehow normal, that the
answer to his question will be revealed
before the show is over It’s not
Nicholas is selfish, insecure, and im
mature He wants the world on his terms
When he doesn't get it. he meows like a
whipped dog Ruth is more believable
She's sentimental and loving She's
willing to overlook Nicky 's faults because
she believes she loves him But she's
more in love with the idea than with Nick
What kind of woman could love such a
pasty little twerp? Neither are very at
tractive
The idea of making a love story out of
unattractive people is intriguing Paddy
Chayevsky made unattractive Marty
memorable Mamet's script is not
memorable, it's painful.
Nevertheless, even a bad script can be
saved by creative and dramatic staging
However. Webb's direction is flat, and
the acting uninspired
Sue Schroeder as Ruth has some ex
cellent moments. She understands a
woman s dilemma, loving a man no one
else could She has spirit and energy
She's at her best when she’s emotional,
but when she is not, it’s clear she’s
acting. ORT’s intimate surroundings
make it difficult for an actor to show such
seams At times I wasn't sure whether
Schroeder was Ruth or not
Bill Reid is thoroughly unbelievable as
Nick. He says “I come up here and I see
things," but he doesn’t A fish jumped, he
exclaims, but he hasn't seen it. Nicholas
is supposed to be turned in, but Reid
carries it so far he's a turn off
This is not a show to see, expecially if
you love new theater At one point Ni
cholas asks "What're we doing here? We
can't know ourselves." Too true I
thought the same thing myself.
ORT has done better and is sure to do
better
But this is not good work
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