A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

A Life in the Theatre

Full-Length Play, Comedy  /  3m

"A comedy about the artifice of acting... It is also about the artifice of living... An evening of pure theatre." - The New York Times

"A comic masterpiece." - New York Daily News

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    3m
  • Duration
    Duration
    90 minutes
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult

Details

Summary
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Glengarry Glen Ross and Speed-The-Plow, takes us into the lives of two actors: John, young and rising into the first flush of his success; the other Robert, older, anxious, and beginning to wane. In a series of short, spare, and increasingly raw exchanges, we see the estrangement of youth from age and the wider, inevitable and endless cycle of life, in and out of the theatre.
History

A Life in the Theatre premiered at the Theatre de Lys in New York City in October 1977 under the direction of Gerald Gutierrez.

ROBERT - an older actor
JOHN - a younger actor
STAGE MANAGER

1 character is non-speaking

  • Time Period Contemporary
  • Setting Various spots around a theatre.
  • Additional Features No intermission
  • Duration 90 minutes
  • Cautions
    • Mild Adult Themes

Media

REVIEWS

"A comedy about the artifice of acting... It is also about the artifice of living... An evening of pure theatre." - The New York Times

"A comic masterpiece." - New York Daily News

"The warmest and often the funniest play in town." - New York Post

"[Mamet has] the most acute ear for dialogue of any American writer since J.D. Salinger." - Village Voice

Videos

  • Neil Pepe and David Mamet on A Life in the Theatre youtube thumbnail

    Neil Pepe and David Mamet on A Life in the Theatre

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $120 per performance

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Authors

David Mamet

David Mamet is the author of the plays: Race, Keep Your Pantheon, School, November, Romance, Boston Marriage, Faustus, Oleanna, Glengarry Glen Ross (1984 Pulitzer Prize and New York Drama Critics Circle Award), American Buffalo, The Old Neighborhood, A Life in the Theatre, Sp ...
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