David Mamet

With just a few days to go before he makes his first West End appearance in over half a decade, Damian Lewis has revealed that he’s suffering from nerves.

Lewis, the noted star of ‘Homeland’ and ‘Wolf Hall’, will tread the boards for the first time since 2009 when he stars in David Mamet’s play ‘American Buffalo’. He’ll star alongside movie veteran John Goodman and youngster Tom Sturridge, who play three men plotting a heist.

Damian Lewis with wife Helen McCrory

Continue reading: Damian Lewis Admits To Nerves Ahead Of New Play's Opening

Acting legend Al Pacino is set to return to Broadway this time next year. The 74 year old will star in a new play by David Mamet called ‘China Doll’, and it represents a reunion of the pair after they worked on the 2012 revival of Mamet’s ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ and further back in 1983 on ‘American Buffalo’.

Al Pacino will work with David Mamet once more when he returns to Broadway next October

The three main producers (Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel and Steve Traxler) announced ‘China Doll’ on Friday and named Pam MacKinnon, who won a Tony Award last year for her work on ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’, as director. No dates or venues have yet been confirmed, however.

Continue reading: Al Pacino To Make A Return To The Stage

Lindsay Lohan is set to make her West End and stage debut in David Mamet's Speed-The-Plow. The production could not be more appropriate for the 27-year-old actress as it satirises Hollywood and the pressures and debauchery which occur behind the scenes. Lohan certainly knows how fickle the film industry can be and the pressures, when in the public eye, to succeed. The former Disney star went through something of a rocky patch starting in 2010 and has only appeared healthy again. 

Lindsay Lohan will play Karen in Speed-The-Plow.

Lohan is set to play Karen, a secretary working for a Hollywood producer, who is courted and seduced by two producers causing to complications in their working relationship. When the play was first performed on Broadway in 1988, Madonna took the lead as Karen. Since its debut the role of Karen in Speed-The-Plow has been portrayed by Elisabeth Moss and Alicia Silverstone, as the BBC reports. 

Continue reading: Lohan Is "Nervous But Excited" About West End David Mamet Debut

Of course, it's the same every year. On the weekend of February 14, you'll stroll into the cinema and - oh look! - alongside the regular blockbusters are a bunch of romantic-comedies that have had little to no promotion. On the most romantic of weekends, the studios simply don't need to spend millions on marketing. Cinemagoers want something stress-free, something funny, something romantic. About Last Night is one of those movies.

'About Last Night' Stars Kevin Hart [L] and Regina Hall [R]

A modern reimagining of the classic play from David Mamet, and a remake of the 1986 movie with Rob Lowe and Demi Moore, this new movie stars Kevin Hart, Regina Hall, Michael Ealy and Joy Bryant as couples searching for love.

Continue reading: Mamet's Classic Play Lives On It 'About Last Night' Remake [Trailer]

There are few people that head to Broadway with the hopes of having their minds expanded with an hour long philosophical dialogue, but it seems that's what David Mamet wanted to give to Broadway's audiences. His latest play The Anarchist has been a complete flop and the decision has been made the cancel the whole production, with the final performance to take place on December 16th, reports the Guardian.

David Mamet is almost a household name, having written some truly brilliant movies including The Postman Always Rings Twice, Hannibal, and Wag the Dog, however he hasn't hit the high notes he would've wanted with his latest play. After the first official performance last Sunday, critics panned it brutally. As the LA Times sums up, "Many critics noted that the play's structure -- an extended philosophical conversation lasting a little more than one hour -- would be rough going for audiences." 

Many critics justly questioned whether a play that lasts little more than an hour is even worthy of being on Broadway, or considered a full show. Luckily for Mamet, he's got another show still on Broadway, and this one stars Al Capone, in a reverse fate of the Alchemist, Glengarry Glen Ross has been extended by three weeks and is scoring over $1m per week. 

It’s a bad time for the playwright David Mamet right now. His new play, The Anarchist, starring Debra Winger and Patti LuPone will close on December 16, 2012, it has been announced. The play opened at the John Golden Theatre on December 2, to largely negative reviews and the effect of those reviews means that the play will only run for its 23 previews and 17 performances, The Wrap has reported. A bitter disappointment, no doubt, for the Pulitzer Prize winning writer, who is more accustomed to being on the receiving end of endless praise, rather than such harsh criticisms as he has received for The Anarchist.

The New York Times review was particularly harsh, saying that the play “is not lurid, spark filled or even expletive laden” and Mark Kennedy of Associated Press was equally dismissive of Mamet’s efforts, writing that “The Anarchist starts in second gear and never really speeds up or slows down, just becomes wave after wave of staccato dialogue that is more pleasant on the page than spoken.” The play had originally been scheduled to run for 14 weeks until February 17, 2013 but it now looks as though the reviews have had a disastrous impact on the play’s fortunes.

To further add to Mamet’s misery, a revival of his 1984 Pulitzer-winning play Glengarry Glen Ross has been pushed back to open this Saturday (December 8, 2012) after originally being planned for November. Let’s hope Mamet’s confidence can weather the storm and we see a return to form from him soon.

David Mamet's new play The Anarchist opened at the Golden Theatre in New York City on Sunday (December 2, 2012), though the majority of critics panned the show that tells the story of two actresses playing a verbal game of cat-and-mouse.

Patti LuPone plays Cathy, a middle-aged prison inmate who got an indeterminate sentence behind bars after a deadly armored truck robbery. After 35 years in prison and a conversion to Christianity, Cathy begins to plead for clemency with the warden Ann, played by Debra Winger. The Associated Press' drama critic Mark Kennedy opened his scathing review with, "David Mamet's new play "The Anarchist" contains - shock! - not a single swear word. But some are certain to be used by theatregoers walking out after the show." Echoing the New York Times' devastating review of Guy Fieri's new restaurant, Kennedy picks apart the play piece-by-piece, saying, "Running an intermissionless 70 minutes, "The Anarchist" starts in second gear and never really speeds up or slows down, just becomes wave after wave of staccato dialogue that is more pleasant on the page than spoken." Kennedy delivers the killer blow in his final couple of lines, writing, "It fails to connect to the heart or the mind. But at least it's mercifully short. No sooner have you arrived at the theater than you are back in the street, puffing in the cold air - and maybe sending out an expletive, too."

Mamet - a revered playwright and essayist - is the winner of a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony nominations for the classic Glengarry Glen Ross (1984) and Speed-the-Plow (1988). As a screenwriter, he received Oscar nominations for The Verdict (1982) and Wag the Dog (1997).

Continue reading: Critic Pans David Mamet's The Anarchist: "Theatregoers Will Walk Out"