UK Theatre Network

David Mamet’s taut two-hander from 1992 takes place in one location over a few days, but it demonstrates the seismic shifts in power which have occurred in the whole of society over recent decades.

Successful, charismatic and slightly complacent college teacher John has almost attained the academic holy grail of tenure of post – there’s just the formality of an interview to go through before it’s rubber-stamped - and he’s now in the process of buying a house worthy of his new status.  But there’s a last minute glitch with the paperwork, and he ends up fielding a barrage of phone calls from his lawyer and wife while having an impromptu meeting with Carol, an under-achieving student who’s worried about her grades.

The opening scene is a comedy of crossed-lines and miscommunication as John and Carol stutter, repeat, interrupt and contradict themselves in Mamet’s idiosyncratic style, barely seeming to understand what they want to articulate themselves, let alone able to comprehend what the other is saying.  Carol’s constant complaint is that she doesn’t understand the formal language of education - you wonder why she doesn’t just buy a dictionary – while John, although a teacher of teaching, is ironically unable to teach her.  Finally overcoming his mounting sense of frustration, John decides to try to reach out and help Carol.  Unfortunately his overtures are misinterpreted, with dramatic consequences.

In 1992 Oleanna was seen either as a veiled attack on feminism by a rampant misogynist, or a chilling warning of how civilisation might be destroyed by the newly emerging political correctness.  During the first UK production audiences were reported to be fighting in the stalls and cheering at the escalating on-stage violence.  However there were no fisticuffs at Bolton on Friday night – partly because the two protagonists seemed so evenly matched, and partly because, since the introduction of tuition fees and wider access to higher education, the play has a whole new set of resonances for a British audience.

Kosha Engler’s Carol appears to be strong and secure from the outset, completely unembarrassed by overhearing John’s fraught telephone conversations, let alone worried about her crisis meeting.  Colin Stinton as John is a kindly and fairly patient tutor who doesn’t seem to deserve the fate that is meted out to him.  Guest director Iqbal Khan has cast two American-born actors and thus cleverly by-passed any worries about authenticity of accent - no wonder the “Mamet-speak” is pitch-perfect, delivered faultlessly and at a great lick.

However the actors are upstaged by the sheer beauty of Ciaran Bagnall’s set and lighting design.  Although deceptively simple – a desk, a couple of chairs, a few gleaming stainless-steel rods delineating the room’s proportions, with a wall of mirrors along the rear – it lends a sophistication and elegance to the Octagon’s black-box-studio feel.  And when the lighting changes at the beginning of the third act, and the mirrors are miraculously transformed into glass-fronted bookcases, the whole tone of the evening suddenly becomes more three-dimensional and human.

The Octagon is the perfect venue for this chamber-piece, which has become even more complex and interesting with the passing years.  Gripping, thought-provoking and entertaining stuff.

Oleanna is on at Bolton Octagon until Saturday 23 May 2009

Tickets: from £9.00

Evenings: Mon-Sat at 7.30pm

Matinees: Wednesday 13 and Saturday 23 May @ 2pm

Box Office: 01204 520661

www.octagonbolton.co.uk