#1
Posted: 12/8/09 at 9:47pm
David Mamet's RACE has one main message that it drills into the audience's head about a thousand and a half times: everyone's racist. After a while, you feel like saying "WE GET IT." AVENUE Q got the message across in three minutes in song...but Mamet feels the need to remind the audience over and over again through various plot twists that everyone is racist. He has definitely created a conversation-starter here, and it's understandable why it divided critics so much (no real mixed reviews; all either negative or positive). My main problem with the show, in tandem with the fact that he beats a dead horse a little too long for my taste, was that the play got so caught up in the themes of race that it failed to created a really involving drama. We "ooh" and "ahh" and gasp at the revelations made about race (most are admittedly very interesting) but do we really care about the plot? Or the characters? Well, I can't speak for the rest of the audience, but I didn't really. I liked the first act a lot more than the second (which is WAY too wordy and gets into plot-lines that are pointless and seem superfluous) and I did enjoy the play, to a certain extent. I don't think he created an interesting drama but I do think he got people talking, which is commendable.
The best thing about the show is the cast. I really loved them all, save for Thomas who I thought was really unconvincing. James Spader walks his way through Mamet's dialogue like a breeze and is quite strong and believable, David Alan Grier manages to be tough but also engaging and funny, and Kerry Washington was really strong. I didn't find her to be the misfire most other BWWers did at all. Sure, she's a bit robotic and she is somewhat unconvincing towards the end of the play but I thought she was strong for 80% of it. I thought she was better than Elisabeth Moss was last season in the sensational revival of SPEED-THE-PLOW, actually.
Mamet directs the show swiftly, with a low-key theatricality about it (if that oxymoron makes any sense) and the set is nice enough.
Did I hate it? No. Did I love it? No. It's got interesting themes, not an interesting or well-developed plot-line, which is a shame. Go in expecting dramatic fireworks and an involving plot and you'll be disappointed. Go in expecting to be provoked and handed interesting ideas on race, you'll enjoy yourself.
**1/2 out of ****
As for the plot twist, I saw it coming a mile away. Was it just me?
And as for the misogyny, I actually thought Susan was the most interesting character in the play.
The best thing about the show is the cast. I really loved them all, save for Thomas who I thought was really unconvincing. James Spader walks his way through Mamet's dialogue like a breeze and is quite strong and believable, David Alan Grier manages to be tough but also engaging and funny, and Kerry Washington was really strong. I didn't find her to be the misfire most other BWWers did at all. Sure, she's a bit robotic and she is somewhat unconvincing towards the end of the play but I thought she was strong for 80% of it. I thought she was better than Elisabeth Moss was last season in the sensational revival of SPEED-THE-PLOW, actually.
Mamet directs the show swiftly, with a low-key theatricality about it (if that oxymoron makes any sense) and the set is nice enough.
Did I hate it? No. Did I love it? No. It's got interesting themes, not an interesting or well-developed plot-line, which is a shame. Go in expecting dramatic fireworks and an involving plot and you'll be disappointed. Go in expecting to be provoked and handed interesting ideas on race, you'll enjoy yourself.
**1/2 out of ****
As for the plot twist, I saw it coming a mile away. Was it just me?
And as for the misogyny, I actually thought Susan was the most interesting character in the play.
Updated On: 12/8/09 at 09:47 PM
