'' is the title of a
1984 Pulitzer Prize and
Tony -winning
Play by
David Mamet . The play shows parts of two days in the lives of four desperate
Chicago Real Estate Agent s who are prepared to engage in any number of unethical and/or illegal acts (from lies and flattery to
Bribery , threats and intimidation to
Burglary ) in order to sell undesirable
Real Estate to unwilling prospective buyers. The play draws partly on Mamet's experiences of life in a Chicago real estate office, where he worked briefly as a typist in the late 1960s. The title of the play comes from the names of two of the real estate developments being peddled by the salesmen characters.
The play is noteworthy for the flow of persuasive patter of the salesmen characters, who spend much time trying to convince customers, the oily office manager, and even each other to give them what they want: down payments for real estate, access to valuable sales leads, and even co-operation in conspiracies. The play also shocked audiences with its (for the time) raw language, with its roughly 150 uses of the word "
Fuck " or variations, as in this early scene, when desperate salesman Shelley Levene tries to persuade the office manager, Williamson, to give Levene prospects (or "leads") to sell to:
:: I need the leads. I need them now. Or I'm gone, and you're going to miss me, John, I swear to you.
:: Murray...
:: ...you talk to Murray...
:: I have. And my job is to marshal those leads...
:: Marshal the leads...marshal the leads? What the fuck, what bus did you get off of, we're here to fucking sell. Fuck marshaling the leads. What the fuck talk is that? What the fuck talk is that? Where did you learn that? In school?
:::''(pause)''
:That's "talk," my friend, that's "talk." Our job is to sell. I'm the man to sell. I'm getting garbage.
:::''(pause)''
:You're giving it to me, and what I'm saying is it's fucked.
There's significant controversy over lines in ''
Glengarry Glen Ross '' which are racist against Asian Indians (''Contra Costa Times'',
February 27 ,
2004 ,
{Link without Title} ). As a result, Mamet removed the language from the latest Broadway revival.
''Glengarry Glen Ross'' was first presented at the
Cottlesloe Theatre of the
Royal National Theatre in
London on
September 21 ,
1983 . The original cast was:
Shelly Levene.............
Derek Newark
John Williamson...........
Karl Johnson
Dave Moss.................
Trevor Ray
George Aaronow............
James Grant
Richard Roma..............
Jack Shepherd
James Lingk...............
Tony Haygarth
Baylen....................
John Tams
''Glengarry Glen Ross'' premiered in the United States at the
Goodman Theatre of the
Arts Institute Of Chicago in a
Chicago Theatre Groups, Inc. production on
February 6 , 1984. The play opened on Broadway on
March 25 ,
1984 at the
John Golden Theatre , in a production directed by
Gregory Mosher . The original American cast is below, with
Lane Smith replacing
William L. Petersen on Broadway.
Shelly Levene.............
Robert Prosky
John Williamson...........
J. T. Walsh
Dave Moss.................
James Tolkan
George Aaronow............
Mike Nussbaum
Richard Roma..............
Joe Mantegna
James Lingk...............
William L. Petersen
Baylen....................
Jack Wallace
The play received numerous
Tony Award nominations, including those for the director, Mosher, and actors Prosky and Mantegna, with Mantegna winning in the
Best Featured Actor category.
The award-winning
1992 Film Version Of ''Glengarry, Glen Ross '' starred
Jack Lemmon ,
Kevin Spacey ,
Al Pacino ,
Ed Harris ,
Alan Arkin ,
Jonathan Pryce , and
Alec Baldwin , in a role written especially for him by Mamet for the film.
In
2005 , ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' was revived on Broadway, opening on
May 1 ,
2005 at the
Bernard B Jacobs Theatre (formerly the Royale Theatre), in a production directed by
Joe Mantello . The revival cast was:
Richard Roma..............
Liev Schreiber
Shelly Levine.............
Alan Alda
John Williamson...........
Frederick Weller
Dave Moss.................
Gordon Clapp
George Aaronow............
Jeffrey Tambor
James Lingk...............
Tom Wopat
Baylen....................
Jordan Lage
The revival received numerous Tony Award nominations, including Best Featured Actor nominations for Alda, Clapp, and Schreiber, with Schreiber taking home the prize. The production also won a Tony for
Best Revival Of A Play .
''Glengarry Glen Ross'' has also been produced as a radio play for
BBC Radio 3 , featuring
Hector Elizondo ,
Stacy Keach ,
Bruce Davison , and
Alfred Molina as Roma, and first airing
March 20 , 2005.
