The Shawl
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The Shawl is a four-act play by
David Mamet David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, author, and filmmaker. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony Award, Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and ''Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first ...
. It premiered at the
Goodman Theatre Goodman Theatre is a professional theater company located in Chicago's Loop. A major part of the Chicago theatre scene, it is the city's oldest currently active nonprofit theater organization. Part of its present theater complex occupies the ...
New Theatre Company in Chicago in 1985. The play concerns two men, John and Charles, who plan on defrauding Miss A out of her inheritance. The play scams and deceives to the very end, while emphasising the truth repeatedly.


Background

According to
Lindsay Crouse Lindsay Ann Crouse (born May 12, 1948) is an American actress. She made her Broadway debut in the 1972 revival of ''Much Ado About Nothing'' and appeared in her first film in 1976 in '' All the President's Men''. For her role in the 1984 film ...
, " 'David told me once that he started to write 'The Shawl' in part because people said to him, 'You always write such wonderful characters but you don't write plot,'.... So he set out to exercise plot-writing as a craft. And I think it came out beautifully. Everybody gets fooled at least once in this play.' "Freedman, Samuel
"Theater Returns To Lincoln Center"
''The New York Times'', December 21, 1985
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' noted that "while ''The Shawl'' does not pretend at realism - Mr. Mamet has called it ''my 'Twilight Zone' episode'' - it must convince the audience that an educated, middle-class woman would put her faith into a mind reader. And the psychic himself is not some gypsy in paisley but a middle-aged man who is worried about losing his young, homosexual lover."


Productions

''The Shawl'' was initially presented by the
Goodman Theatre Goodman Theatre is a professional theater company located in Chicago's Loop. A major part of the Chicago theatre scene, it is the city's oldest currently active nonprofit theater organization. Part of its present theater complex occupies the ...
's New Theatre Company in Chicago as the premiere production of their Briar Street Theatre. The play opened on April 19, 1985. Directed by Gregory Mosher, the cast featured Mike Nussbaum as John, Lindsay Crouse as Miss A and
Gary Cole Gary Michael Cole (born September 20, 1956) is an American actor. He began his professional acting career on stage at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1985. His breakout role was playing Jack 'Nighthawk' Killian in the NBC series '' M ...
as Charles . ''The Shawl'' was produced
Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
at the
Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5  ...
Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, opening on December 23, 1985, and closing on February 2, 1986, after 48 performances. The play ran in a double bill with Mamet's '' Prairie du Chien''. Directed by Mosher, the cast featured Mike Nussbaum as John, Lindsay Crouse as Miss A and Calvin Levels as Charles. ''The Shawl's'' first London production was at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs on June 9, 1986. The production was directed by Richard Eyre with David de Keyser as John, Connie Booth as Miss A and Michael Feast as Charles. A BBC Television adaptation was broadcast as part of '' The Play on One'' on 14 March 1989. This production was directed by Bill Bryden and starred
Nigel Hawthorne Sir Nigel Barnard Hawthorne (5 April 1929 – 26 December 2001) was an English actor. He is known for his stage acting and his portrayal of Sir Humphrey Appleby, the permanent secretary in the 1980s sitcom ''Yes Minister'' and the Cabinet Secre ...
,
Brenda Blethyn Brenda Blethyn ( Bottle; born 20 February 1946) is an English actress. Known for her character work and versatility, she is the recipient of various accolades, including a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and a Cannes Film Festival Award, as well as n ...
and Karl Johnson. ''The Shawl'' was presented at the Arcola Theatre in London in September and October 2009.Shenton, Mar
"Revival of Mamet's 'The Shawl', with McGovern, Marsh and Rattray, Begins London Run Sept. 9"
playbill.com, September 9, 2009
Directed by Amelia Nicholson, the cast featured Matthew Marsh,
Elizabeth McGovern Elizabeth Lee McGovern (born July 18, 1961) is an American actress. She has received many awards and nominations, including a Screen Actors Guild Award, three Golden Globe Award nominations, and one Academy Award nomination. Born in Evanston ...
as Miss A. and Paul Rattray.Bassett, Kat
" 'The Shawl', Arcola, London; 'Punk Rock', Lyric Hammersmith, London; 'Katrina', Bargehouse, London"
''The Independent'', 13 September 2009
Presented at the Young Vic in London in December 2012.


Plot

ACT 1 takes place in John's office and introduces us to John and Miss A. John is an amateur psychic and Miss A. is a woman whose mother recently died and left her an inheritance. Miss A. seeks psychic advice concerning matters both personal and financial regarding her mother's will. John also advises Miss A that she may have untapped psychic abilities. ACT 2 introduces us to John's young protégé Charles, and alludes to the homosexual relationship between them. John explains to Charles the smoke-and-mirror tricks he uses on his customers, in particular Miss A, so that Charles may one day learn to make an "honest" living from this profession. Although John uses techniques of a questionable nature, he shows a more caring side towards his clients, whereas Charles is driven more by greed and ambition and is willing to compromise the ethics of the profession. They devise a plan to give Miss A what she wants: answers to her question about what to do with her inheritance. They plan to hold a seance and pretend to contact her deceased mother. In discussing the details of the plan, Charles pressures John into making it look like Miss A's mother will want to contest the will and give the inheritance to them. ACT 3 takes place the following evening. The seance is held and John uses his usual smoke-and-mirror techniques in concert with his seance research. He pretends to contact a 19th-century Boston woman, who in turn allegedly contacts Miss A's mother. But Miss A puts the two charlatans to the test. She came prepared with a photograph of her mother, as she had been instructed by John the previous day. However, the photo is a fake. When tested, John claims the woman in the photo is that of Miss A's mother. Miss A then exposes them by declaring the photo a fraud. But just as she is about to storm out on them, John has a genuine psychic vision from Miss A's childhood regarding a Red Shawl. John is able to give a detailed description of The Shawl and how Miss A's mother would sing her to sleep as The Shawl, draped on her lamp, cast a red shadow. ACT 4 takes place the following day. John is having a heated argument with Charles as he gets ready for his appointment with Miss A. John, having finally had the breakthrough psychic experience he wished for throughout his amateur years, is revealing to Charles the last of his tricks while telling him this is the parting of the ways. As Charles gives his farewell and leaves, Miss A shows up for their appointment. Upon being questioned by Miss A, John honestly admits to her that the Boston Woman was a fiction. However, Miss A is intrigued that John was able to have a genuine vision of her mother, because nobody could have made up the vision of The Shawl. Miss A offers John payment for helping her decide she should contest the will. And finally, when she asks John for clarification of how she lost The Shawl five years ago, John offers more genuine insight and elaborates that she burnt The Shawl in a fit of rage ... but that's all he saw.


Characters

*John - a man in his fifties *Miss A - a woman in her late thirties *Charles - a man in his thirties


References


External links





{{DEFAULTSORT:Shawl 1985 plays Plays by David Mamet