Robert Cohen - Theatre, Brief Version-McGraw-Hill Education (2016)

Theatre 65
David Mamet won the Pulitzer Prize for his fiery Glengarry Glen Ross, portraying the cutthroat competition among
employees in a Chicago real estate office. Alan Alda (left) and Liev Schreiber are having it out in this 2005 Broadway
revival of the play, directed by Joe Mantello. © Sara Krulwich/The New York Times/Redux
one of the most powerful dramatic effects. Whole plays
can be based on little more than artfully contrived plotting
designed to keep the audience in a continual state of
anticipation and wonder. Shakespeare’s The Merchant of
Venice begins with the titular character proclaiming “In
sooth, I know not why I am so sad.” So why is he sad?
Even he doesn’t know. We don’t immediately find out—in
fact, we never explicitly find out—but his statement keeps
us wanting to know more.
Plot, however, is only one of the elements of a play that
can support intrigue. Most plays that aspire to true insight
develop intrigue in their characters and themes, not just in
their plot. Most of the great plays demand that we ask not
so much “What will happen?” as “What does this mean?”
Most great plays, in other words, make us care about the
characters and create a more grand sense of suspense than
simply “what will happen”—they create tension by inviting
us to ponder the bigger mysteries of the human condition.
Look, for example, at the opening dialogue of Neil
LaBute’s award-winning Fat Pig. In a crowded cafeteria,
a man enters with his lunch tray, looking around for an
empty table. He spots a woman described in the stage
directions as – “a plus size. Very.” – The man walks
toward her and speaks:
MAN: . . . pretty big.
WOMAN: Excuse me?
MAN: I’m sorry. I was just sort of, you know, speaking
out loud. Pretty big in here. That’s what I was
saying . . .
WOMAN: Oh. Right.
MAN: Lots of room for, you know, people.
WOMAN: Yes. It’s popular.
MAN: Yeah, I can see that. It’s full.*
She stares at him a minute, then slides some of her
food to one side, allowing him a space if he wants it.
*Excerpt from Fat Pig, copyright © 2004 by Neil LaBute. Used
by permission of Faber & Faber, Ltd.