It's a difficult play to pull off, but Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles, under the precise, careful direction of Doug Hughes, make the most of Mamet's seemingly imprecise language. The provocative power struggle exposes the destructiveness of miscommunication and excessive political correctness.This drama is an explosive two-character power struggle between a university professor and a student failing his course. Yet the latest version, which pits the excellent Bill Pullman against the luminous Julia Stiles, often seemed slow to the point of stasis, and its ending found me almost drowsy.Still, I’m willing to cut Mamet some minimal slack. I thought Pulman was very good, and Stiles will be good if she can relax and slip into the part a bit more.Thanks for posting this. But what do I know, this is just my perception.Fly into San Fran, Drive the coast, Fly out of San DiegoWell, being the perfectionist (i.e. Oleanna (Original, Play, Broadway) opened in New York City Oct 11, 2009 and played through Dec 6, 2009. "People are just staying in their seats, riveted. Sarah Paulson Talks About Her Love of Performing LiveThe 15 More Iconic Broadway Dances Through the DecadesStudent tickets, $25 each, are available at the box office, day of performance only, beginning when the box office opens. Ms. Stiles speaks with a stiff, ladylike crispness, while Mr. Pullman gives what may be the most naturalistic line readings I’ve ever heard in a Mamet play. I am not the same person, and America is no longer living in the immediate shadow of the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Clarence Thomas, when the testimony of Anita F. Hill inspired a furious national debate on sexual harassment in the workplace.Topical resonance helped make “Oleanna” famous, and it’s that aspect that the play’s producers are no doubt hoping to capitalize on with the production’s post performance talk-back series with assorted guest celebrities (former Mayor David N. Dinkins, Kathryn Erbe of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” etc.). This story has audiences everywhere debating the themes in the show. And what surged from Mamet's brain is the closest Broadway now has to a slasher movie." More literally, John is trying to buy a house. But invariably, we don’t.David Mamet uses several allusions in his playFollowing a world premiere in May 1992 as the first production of David Mamet’s Back Bay Theater Company in Cambridge, MA and starring William H. Macy and Rebecca Pidgeon, OLEANNA had its New York premiere Off-Broadway at The Orpheum Theatre on October 23, 1992. But “Oleanna” exists on its own timeless terms, and they’re defined by the power and limits of language.Mamet has written the screenplays for such films asOne could say that about our political situation as well, as partisan politics overwhelm everything. This gripping new production, directed by Tony winner DOUG HUGHES , had Los Angeles audiences gasping and critics raving. We've had great audiences since September, and as our sales are concentrated through the holidays, January feels like the right time to end. It's a power game. Mr. Mamet’s approach to staging his own plays has always been text-driven, governed by his avowed (and somewhat disingenuous) theory that if the actors just say the lines and don’t dawdle, the play will take care of itself. If the “Oleanna” of 1992 left you breathless, Mr. Hughes’s measured interpretation leaves you plenty of time to breathe — and weigh and calibrate the arguments of its irrevocably opposed characters. When I first saw this two-character battle of the sexes (and the classes) off Broadway at the Orpheum Theater, it seemed to move at warp speed, and I left it with shortened breath and heightened blood pressure.

Anyway, that’s what occurs in performance — or should.All this is uncomfortably visible in Mr. Hughes’s production. We didn't just remount the play.

By Ben Brantley. John persists throughout the first act that education is nothing but hazing, never truly rewarding the students with the promises of accomplishment. They want to talk about the play because there are so many issues to explore. Carol on the contrary has arrived at the university hoping for just these things. The two come together when Carol comes to visit John because she is failing his class. I think we will do a less "serious" play or musical.