David Mamet
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Literary Arts

David Mamet

Past Event: Tuesday, April 1, 2003

At Benaroya Hall — S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium

Sponsored by ShadowCatcher Entertainment.

Pulitzer Prize winner David Mamet is the author of some of the best-known and most important plays in American theater, including American Buffalo (1977), Glengarry Glen Ross (1982), and Speed-the-Plow (1985). Born in 1947, Mamet grew up in a small Jewish neighborhood on the south side of Chicago and his plays often concern the everyday dramas of urban, working class people—the small-time con artist, the cutthroat salesman, the ingenious factory worker. He attributes his ear for dialogue to listening to his father talk and to several years of piano lessons, which gave him a feel for the musicality in speech. “Mamet deserves recognition for his careful, gorgeous, loving sense of language,” writes The Village Voice. “He has the most acute ear for dialogue of any American writer since J. D. Salinger.”

Mamet has also written numerous screenplays, including The Untouchables (1987), Wag the Dog (1997), and Ronin (1997). His awards include an Oscar, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony. He received the New York Drama Critics Circle Award in 1977 for American Buffalo. Mamet is also the author of several collections of essays and a collection of poems. He has taught at New York University, Goddard College, and the Yale Drama School.

Excerpt from Glengarry Glen Ross (1982)
AARONOW: How many leads have we got?
MOSS: The Glengarry… the premium leads… ? I’d say we got five thousand. Five. Five thousand leads.
AARONOW: And you’re saying a fella could take and sell these leads to Jerry Graff.
MOSS: Yes.
AARONOW: How do you know he’d buy them?
MOSS:: Graff? Because I worked for him.
AARONOW: You haven’t talked to him.
MOSS:: No. What do you mean? Have I talked to him about this? (Pause.)
AARONOW: Yes. I mean are you actually talking about this, or are we just…
MOSS: No, we’re just…
AARONOW: We’re just “talking” about it.
MOSS: We’re just speaking about it. (Pause.) As an idea.
AARONOW: As an idea.
MOSS: Yes.
AARONOW: We’re not actually talking about it.
MOSS: No.
AARONOW: Talking about it as a…
MOSS: No.
AARONOW: As a robbery.
MOSS: As a “robbery”?! No.
AARONOW: Well. Well…
MOSS: Hey. (Pause.)
AARONOW: So all this, um, you didn’t, actually, you didn’t actually go talk to Graff.
MOSS: Not actually, no. (Pause.)
AARONOW: You didn’t?
MOSS: No. Not actually.
AARONOW: Did you?
MOSS: What did I say?
AARONOW: What did you say?
MOSS: Yes. (Pause.) I said, “Not actually.” The fuck you care, George? We’re just talking…
AARONOW: We are?
MOSS: Yes. (Pause.)
AARONOW: Because, because, you know, it’s a crime.
MOSS: That’s right. It’s a crime. It is a crime. It’s also very safe.
AARONOW: You’re actually talking about this?
MOSS: That’s right. (Pause.)
AARONOW: You’re going to steal the leads?

 

Selected WorkThe Cryptogram (1995)Oleanna (1993)Some Freaks (1989)Uncle Vanya (1989)Speed-the-Plow (1985)Glenngarry Glen Ross (1982)Sexual Perversity in Chicago (1978)American Buffalo (1977)

LinksSalon.com interview with MametUnofficial David Mamet web siteDrama study guide to Glenngarry Glenn Ross

Event Details

Benaroya Hall — S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium

200 University Street
Seattle, WA 98101

View directions.

Transportation & Parking

This event will be held in the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium, the largest event space at Benaroya Hall. 

Benaroya Hall is located at 200 University Street, directly across Second Avenue from the Seattle Art Museum. The public entrance to Benaroya Hall is along Third Avenue.

By Car

  • From Southbound I-5
    Take the Union Street exit (#165B). Continue onto Union Street and proceed approximately five blocks to Second Avenue. Turn left onto Second Avenue. The Benaroya Hall parking garage will be on your immediate left. The garage entrance is on Second Avenue, just south of Union Street.
  • From Northbound I-5
    Exit left onto Seneca Street (exit #165). Proceed two blocks and turn right onto Fourth Avenue. Continue two blocks. Turn left onto Union Street. Continue two blocks. Turn left onto Second Avenue. The Benaroya Hall parking garage will be on your immediate left. The garage entrance is on Second Avenue, just south of Union Street.
  • From Northbound I-5 via Westbound I-90
    Take the 2C exit for I-5 North. Follow signs for Madison Street/Convention Place and merge right onto Seventh Avenue. Turn left onto Madison Street. Proceed three blocks and turn right onto Fourth Avenue. Continue four blocks. Turn left onto Union Street. Continue two blocks. Turn left onto Second Avenue. The Benaroya Hall parking garage will be on your immediate left. The garage entrance is on Second Avenue, just south of Union Street.

By Public Transit (Bus & Light Rail)

Benaroya Hall is served by numerous bus routes. Digital reader boards along Third Avenue display real-time bus arrival information. For details and trip planning tools, call Metro Rider Information at 206.553.3000 (voice) or 206.684.1739 (TDD), or visit Metro online. The Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, served by light rail, has a stop just below the Hall (University Street Station).

Parking

The 430-car underground garage at Benaroya Hall provides direct access from the enclosed parking area into the Hall via elevators leading to The Boeing Company Gallery. Enter the garage on Second Avenue, just south of Union Street. Maximum vehicle height is 6’8″. ChargePoint charging stations are available for electric vehicles. Visit the Benaroya Hall website for event pricing.

Parking is also available at:

  • The Cobb Building (enter on University Street between Third and Fourth avenues).
  • The Russell Investments Center (enter on Union Street between First and Second avenues).
  • There are many other garages within a one-block radius of Benaroya Hall, along with numerous on-street parking options.

Accessibility

Open Captioning is an option for people who have hearing loss, where a captioning screen displaying the words that are spoken or sung is placed on stage. This option is present at every event at Benaroya Hall in our 2021/22 Season.

Closed Captioning is an option for people who have hearing loss, where captioning displays the words that are spoken or sung at the bottom of the video during an online event. Captioning is available for all online events; click the “CC” button to view captions during the event.

Assistive Listening Devices (ALDs) are devices that people with hearing loss use in conjunction with their hearing device (hearing aids or cochlear implants). Benaroya Hall has an infrared hearing system, which transmits sound by light beams. Headsets are available in The Boeing Company Gallery coat check and the Head Usher stations in both lobbies.

Sign Language Interpretation is available upon request for Deaf, DeafBlind, and hard of hearing individuals for both in-person and online events. To make a request for interpretation, please contact us at boxoffice@lectures.org or 206.621.2230×10, or select “Sign Language Interpretation” from the Accessibility section during your ticket checkout process and we will contact you to confirm details. Please note: we appreciate a two-week advance notice to allow us time to secure interpretation.

Wheelchair Accessible Seating and Accessible Restrooms are available in all sections at our venues, and our venues are fully accessible to ticket holders with physical mobility concerns. Among other features, Benaroya Hall has designated parking spaces adjacent to elevators in their parking garage. Elevators with Braille signage go to all levels within the Hall. To reserve seating for a specific mobility concern, you may select “Wheelchair Accessible or Alternative Seating Options” during ticket checkout, and we will contact you to confirm details. For more details on their accessibility features, click here.

Guide and service dogs are welcome.

Gender neutral restrooms are available.

We are pleased to offer these accessibility services at our venues, and they are provided at no additional cost to ticket holders. Please contact us with any questions and feedback about how we can be more accessible and inclusive. Our Patron Services Manager is available at boxoffice@lectures.org, or Tuesday-Friday, from 12 noon–5 p.m., at 206.621.2230×10.

For more accessibility information, please head to lectures.org/accessibility. If you would like to make accessibility arrangements you do not see listed here, please contact our box office or select “Other Accommodations” from the Accessibility section during your ticket checkout process, and we will contact you to confirm details.

Seating Chart