By Eva Trieger
ENCINITAS, California — From the instant the dialogue began, I was riveted by the hallmark Mamet staccato, terse exchanges. The principals in this case were a young college professor (Francis Gercke) attempting to understand a distraught, frustrated coed (Rachael Van Wormer). The Intrepid Shakespeare Company, directed by Christy Yael and Sean Cox, served up a healthy dose of angst and friction to theatergoers at the SDA (San Dieguito Academy) Theatre with Oleanna.
With a simple set, the interior of a professor’s office, we are drawn into a battle of wits, verbiage and miscommunication. Carol appears very unstable and becomes easily upset when her professor, John, attempts to explain the elusive concepts to her. He is empathic and wants to help her see herself as capable and successful and in so doing he relates his own difficulties as a young student. All the while amid a flurry of words, some hifalutin’ (his) and self-deprecating (hers) the telephone rings persistently as John is late for an appointment with his wife and the realtor.
It is not the charged conversation nor the emotionality but the seemingly deliberate miscommunication that is maddening. The professor is at once knocking the very system he relies upon to provide a new, larger home for his wife and entre to a good private school for his son. He works within the education machine yet he loathes the paradigm for its falsehoods and flawed design. As he tries to help Carol think critically and trust in her own value, the cards are reshuffled and the entire hand he is dealt is the undoing of John.
The theme of struggling with identity is evidenced in The Wicked Son, David Mamet’s latest book on anti-Semitism and Jewish self hatred. His own personal conflict with liberalism and conservatism, a bruised ego and wavering self respect, have found their way into his writing, certainly in Oleanna. Mamet writes of Jews who turn their back on Judaism and go off in search of other religions, take on political fights, anything to distance themselves from their birthright. He tells of this self-destructive behavior and its prevalence among Jews and how that colors their reception and perception by the larger society.
The entire 80 minutes is fraught with exquisite tension and left this viewer speechless and angry. Christy Yael has cast two perfect actors for this “boxing match”. There is simply no way one can leave the theater unscathed or untouched. A college education will never again hold the same meaning.
The Intrepid Shakespeare Company is well known and respected in area schools for bringing classic shows to the students. This engagement is short, running from Thursdays through Sundays, April 4-14, at 800 Santa Fe Drive, Encinitas, and should not be missed.
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Trieger is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts. She may be contacted at eva.trieger@sdjewishworld.com