Boston Marriage
by David Mamet

State Theatre Company of South Australia
The Space

Murray Bramwell

David Mamet is well-known for the testosterone dialogue of plays like American Buffalo and Glengarry Glen Ross and the intriguingly minimalist expression of his film scripts, so it is interesting to see him venture into the very different world of Boston Marriage, a play he wrote for his wife the actor Rebecca Pidgeon.

A Boston marriage is a late nineteenth term for a partnership of …

20 October, 2004
Murray Bramwell

Boston Marriage
by David Mamet

State Theatre Company of South Australia.
The Space, Adelaide Festival Centre.
19 October.
Tickets $ 17 – $ 45.
Bookings BASS 131 246.
Until 6 November, 2004

In the late nineteenth century when two women lived together, whether for companionship, or somewhat more than that, it was known as a Boston marriage – reflecting both the feminist sophistication of the arrangement and its prevalence in that American city. It is …

2004

Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)
by Ann-Marie MacDonald

State Theatre Company
The Space, October, 2004.

Murray Bramwell

Many have noted how often the tragedy in Shakespeare is triggered by the merest foolish thing. If only Desdemona had not dropped that handkerchief, or the Friar’s letter had got safely to Romeo then disaster would have been averted and all would have ended happily. That is the theory that preoccupies Constance Ledbelly, the central character in Canadian writer, Ann-Marie MacDonald’s comedy. …

21 September, 2004
Murray Bramwell

Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)
by Ann-Marie MacDonald.
State Theatre Company of South Australia.
The Space, Adelaide Festival Centre.
21September. 2004 Tickets $ 17 – $ 45.
Bookings BASS 131 246.
Until 9 October.

Why does all the tribulation in Shakespeare’s tragedies hinge on flimsy plot devices like stolen handkerchiefs and misdelivered letters ? What if these plays were really meant to be comedies ? These are the questions asked by Constance Ledbelly, the central …

2004

Death of a Salesman
by Arthur Miller

State Theatre Company
of South Australia
Dunstan Playhouse, August 2004.

Murray Bramwell

Arthur Miller once said his plays were about how the birds come home to roost, one by one, back to the branch. He meant that there is a tragic theme in his work, and his characters, more than most, reap what they sow. But his pessimism is not to be mistaken for futility. In the struggle against their fate and …

31 July, 2004
Murray Bramwell

Death of a Salesman
by Arthur Miller
State Theatre Company of South Australia
Dunstan Playhouse
Adelaide Festival Centre
30 July, 2004.
Until 14 August. Bookings BASS 131 246
Tickets $ 17- $45.

Arthur Miller subtitled it – “Certain Private Conversations in two Acts and a Requiem,” but Death of a Salesman has been part of a very public conversation for more than fifty years. The figure of Willy Loman, Miller has suggested, is a tragic …