Boston Marriage

by Frank Furnari, New Rep Reviewer

New Rep opens the season with the play Boston Marriage by David Mamet. You may be familiar with Mamet’s work; recent local productions of his work include New Rep’s production of Speed-the-Plow, and Lyric’s production of November. He is known for witty dialogue, often including many occurrences of the f-word (as well as other choice phrases), staccato speech where characters often cut one another off, and strong male characters. Boston Marriage is a deviation from this norm, with an all-female cast, a mere three utterances of the f-word, and strong, independent female characters, but still retains his humor.

The play, set around the end of the 19^th– early 20^thcentury, revolves around two women, Claire and Anna who are in a “Boston Marriage” – two single women living together without support from a man; Claire has just returned from a long absence and we learn that she wants to bring her new young female love interest to the house. Anna on the other hand, announces that she has found a married man to assist her financially. We get to see the two deal with the situation - can the new love interest come over, what will be said? Interspersed throughout this are scenes where the Scottish maid Catherine (although Anna can never seem to get her name or country of origin correct) enters - making tea, picking up after the women of the house, and offering unwanted comments. The situation gets more complicated after the arrival and departure (the audience never sees them) of other guests and provides fertile ground for Mamet’s comedy.

The three actresses excel at brining to life the humorous dialogue; Debra Wise masterfully portrays Anna. She portrays a strong side, but with a caring side that has been longing for Claire’s return and will do what she can to have her woman back. Jennie Israel is a fiery Claire who has a quick response, yet can be the calm one, called in the mediate situations involving the maid. Melissa Baroni’s Catherine brings great comedic timing and the ability to have herself noticed in the background without being the center of the attention. Kudos to the entire design team, from the detailed set with intricate floor, to the partial ceiling; the period costumes, and the hair design.

Going back to the language, as this is a Mamet play therefore it is all about language, (not the degree of foul language as is his normal), more of a fast-paced semi-Edwardian language that forces you to pay attention. I overheard someone asking his neighbor at intermission – explain to me what just happened, but in plain English! I don’t believe the language is that inaccessible, it can get to be a bit much, but Mamet knows this and even has the Catherine joke about it. Thankfully he rewards you with some good laughs even if the content isn’t as deep as it sounds.

Boston Marriage Director on the Pre-Rehearsal Process

As a director, the pre-rehearsal process of working with the design team is always thrilling for me since I like to make things myself. Love to dream big, collaborate, finagle, manufacture, and find the perfect tool or solution for the job. And then, to go from an empty space onstage to a completely imagined world, location, room, well, that's essentially theatre. 

The place we're going to is Boston, shortly before WWI. It was called the Gilded Age in America, riffing on western Europe's Golden Age and following Le Belle Époque. It was a transitional time in the arts, politics, and equal rights. Think: Paris salons, Art Nouveau, the Titanic, Gibson girls on bikes, Irving Berlin, and Taft as president.


The designers and I agree that the two main characters in Mamet's play are trend setters, and as he says "women of fashion." We want to see and feel a sense of change in the era, and remember that these women are also wildly ahead of their time. At the very least, they are what some would call "free spirits." Janie, on scenery, and Rafael, on clothing, provided so many choices to start our process that we could have gone fully in several directions. We did however arrive at a look and feel of the time that is chic and modern, innovative and whimsical--all important elements for our comedy of manners. 

Whaddya think of these fabric choices for our newly decorated drawing room, which incidentally was the room for women? (Men apparently "parlayed" and smoked in the parlor.) We especially love the "girl fabric" for the hers and hers fainting sofas stage right!


-David Zoffoli

Death, Fear & An Ethical Dilemma..Mamet! - Reviewed by J. K. Cosmos

Mad Men vibe and fast paced talk compels the audience and presents a 'Must See' production at the New Rep. With Mamet, there are expectations and they were met and then some in Watertown.

Robert Pemberton as "Bobby" with his exceptional accent not to be under-estimated when most of Hollywood only pretends to be from a particular venue. Pemberton convinces us and he readily draws us in to his point of view. Pemberton shines in this role.

The play between him and Gabriel Kuttner exceptional. Kuttner is believable as Charlie Fox and as 'everyman' who is loyal and 'true blue' to the powers that run the show and the 'friends' that tantalize and promise a leg up.

Kuttner reflects that man and humanity's attempts to move ahead at any cost in his role as Fox. He understands the game plan and reminds the audience and more crucially his pal, Bobby Gould.

To take the top off, the play has a fight scene. The sudden burst of violence and blood presents another level of Mamet at his best. Director Robert Walsh deserves kudos for the entire production. Walsh transitions the scenes and directs the actors to lead us through the phases of it all; no small feat with this play.

The pivotal conflict is dramatized effectively; both sweetly and purposefully by Aimee Doherty. Her role as Karen is the rub and she moves as an ingenue and a femme fatale. Who knew Karen (Doherty) would have this effect? Doherty plays her hand close and the audience appreciates how she develops this part.

Mamet addresses art and the concepts of being worthy, much like Oscar Wilde did in his essays on art and the value of art, artists and critics.

The Actors, the action, the play - exceptional! Speed-The-Plow

Reviewed - J.K. Cosmos - New Rep Reviewer

Speed-the-Plow-Not-to-be-Missed

by Frank Furnari

David Mamet’s Speed-the-Plow opens with Charlie Fox, a film producer, presenting the plan to make this next smash prison movie with a big name celebrity to Bobby Gould, a newly promoted studio executive. The film has everything in it and it will sell, even if it’s not a great story. The dialogue here is typical Mamet-speak where sentences are rarely finished as they are interrupted by the other person, words are often repeated, and there are lots of swear words. Gabriel Kuttner as Charlie and Robert Pemberton as Bobby do this in such a natural way, as if they always speak this way and as a result get many laughs. We then meet Karen, played by the always-great Aimee Doherty, a good-looking temp that gets both men’s attention. She is pretty, seems innocent and hasn’t really figured out how things work in Hollywood. Charlie bets Bobby that she won’t sleep with him, Bobby accepts. To get Karen to come to his house, Bobby asks Karen to read a novel that he has already decided will not make a good movie - The Bridge; or, Radiation and the Half-Life of Society –she should report on it at his house that evening. She shows up, loves it, and tries to convince him to make it into a film. She reads several quotes from the book, which are some of the funniest moments of the show. Things happen that night and the next morning that determine which film will be made and who ends up on top.

This play premiered on Broadway in 1988 (Madonna played Karen!) and it feels fresh today, you can see nothing has changed in the movie industry. The play looks at the question of art vs. business – do we make the film that should be made – a good film, or do we just make the film that will make us rich? At one point when Bobby is asked, “Is it a good film?” he replies, “it’s a commodity.” In 85minutes of witty dialogue, we get a glimpse of life in the movie business played by three actors whom you really believe lived these lives.

While the production as a whole is great, Eric Levenson’s set was unimpressive. Not consisting of much more than a few chairs and a few tables, it left me wanting a little more – is this how sparse a studio executive’s office is? But then again, this is Mamet – it’s all about the words, and there are lots of them. Pay close attention, it’s worth it - you will catch most of the words in between all the laughter.