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Theatre Reviews
Oleanna

Please Note:  this production is not currently running.

DETAILS
Writer: David Mamet Director: Lindsay Posner	(Run Finished)
Garrick Theatre Charing Cross Road London WC2 Tube: Leicester Square/Charing Cross Ticket Price: UKP25-35 + Fees	Performances Eves Mon-Sat: 7.45pm Mats Wed and Sat: 3pm Group Bookings 020 8949 5363

Review:
David Mamet’s 1992 script gets a fresh West End outing with Aaron Eckhart playing John, the college professor lost in a sea of political correctness after a bust up with his challenging pupil Carol (Julia Stiles).

John is under pressure. His promotion to college tenure is tantalisingly close to being sealed. His new house purchase is in the balance and his phone rings every few minutes to update him on the precarious move.

Carol initially comes across as seriously confused. Confused by her poor grade from John, confused with John’s course and, as they discuss her work,increasingly confused by him.

They spend the opening of the play talking across, interrupting and
generally ignoring each other. Here is the root of their dislocated
relationship. Neither side spends the time to comprehend the other and ultimately it is this lack of understanding that propels the two toward disaster.

Oleanna is not just a cautionary tale on modern political correctness. It asserts the intellectual triumph of fresh ideas and youth over entrenched values. Indeed, despite any sympathy that the audience might have with the bedazzled professor, it is the student who ultimately contrives to hold all the aces in their battle of wills.

Eckhart’s (In The Company of Men, Erin Brockovich) performance is solid from the start and his unfolding quandary is well carried. For me Julia Stiles (Ten Things I Hate About You, Mona Lisa Smile) took time to warm up, but in her defence this coincides with the increasing confidence garnered by Carol as the tables are turned in this wry drama tale of sexual mores.
Peter D. Clee