AUDREY’S SOCIETY WHIRL: Visionary playwright David Mamet plays the RACE card on Broadway

      *RACE, the exigent new play written and directed by acclaimed and award-winning playwright David Mamet officially opened on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre (located at 243 West 47th Street) on Sunday, December 6, 2009 to a star-studded audience.  Like it or not, the controversial RACE -- about black and white issues -- is the most provocative production currently on the Great White Way.

      Mamet has a reputation for not being afraid to deal with confrontational issues (Oleanna, Glengarry Glen Ross, Speed the Plow, American Buffalo) and RACE pushes all the buttons on the topic and all things relating thereto, i.e., shame, guilt, lies, sex, etc.

      The thought-provoking play stars David Alan Grier as Henry Brown, Richard Thomas as Charles Strickland, Kerry Washington as Susan and James Spader as Jack Lawson; and understudies Jordan Lage, Ray Anthony Thomas and Afton C. Williamson.

      As the curtain opens, two law partners, one Black (Grier) and one White (Spader), together with their young, Black female law clerk (Washington) are candidly discussing whether or not to take the case of a wealthy white man (Thomas) accused of raping a young Black woman.

      Elements of Mamet’s captivating take on race are woven throughout the production that will surely anger some theatergoers but garner amen from others.  The infamous red sequined dress – prominently showcased in the play’s steamy poster – is the play’s damaging evidence.

      Grier and Spader are excellent making Washington’s role convincingly harder to achieve.  Her scenes after scene of repetitive questions are made more annoying by her lackluster performance.  Thomas’ modest role, albeit short, is fine tuned.

        I don’t think that the play’s incendiary issue will change your views – whatever they are – on race but it will incite challenging dialogue.  Mamet has the effrontery to do something that most prefer to ignore or sweep under the carpet . . . TALK ABOUT RACE and all of its negative nuances.

      On Opening Night, I saw many theatergoers shaking their heads in disbelief (Did he just say that?  Did he just go there?) about Mamet’s brutally honest take on race long after the final curtain came down.  And I saw others giving the rabble-rousing playwright high fives.  In any case, the fast-paced litigiously delightful play is one not to be missed.

      RACE reunites Mamet with Tony Award winning scenic designer Santo Loquasto who designed the set for the revival of Glengarry GLen Ross as well as the original American Buffalo.

      It will also be a reunion for Mamet and Tony Award winning lighting designer Brian MacDevitt, who recently worked on Speed-The-Plow and American Buffalo. Costumes will be designed by Tony Award nominee Paul Tazewell, whose recent credits include Guys and Dolls, In The Heights and A Raisin the Sun.

      RACE will be the fourth Mamet play to play at the Barrymore Theatre (Speed-The-Plow, November, American Buffalo) and will mark the third consecutive season for the Barrymore to be home to a Mamet play (November in the 2007/2008 season, followed by Speed-The-Plow in the 2008/2009 season).

      RACE, which is produced by award-winning producers Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel & Steve Traxler, is not for the faint-hearted.  The curtain went down on the wisely written and daringly directed play but not on the chatter that guests engaged in on their way over to the post party celebration at the Redeye Grill where the heated conversation continued over convivial drinks and delicious food.

      The stellar Opening Night audience who were fired up and ready to take on Mamet’s RACE issues included The Rev. Al Sharpton, Dominique Sharpton, Woody Allen & wife Soon-Yi Previn, Mr. & Mrs. Lloyd Williams, Jerry Seinfeld & wife Jessica, Toni Fay, Alec Baldwin, Sam Rockwell, Ed Gordon, Jason Wu, Flo Anthony, Gayle King, Kirby Bumpus, Will Bumpus, Karu Daniels, Isabella Rossellini, Eva Longoria-Parker, Billy Crudup, Wilson Morales, Val Kilmer, Roseanne Barr, George Faison & Mr. “T”, Laurie Metcalf, Barbara Smith & Dan Gasby, Tamara Tunie & Greg Generet, V. Diane Thompson and Jean Habersham Parnell.  (Photos by Bruce Glikas/Broadway.com)

Race scene with David Alan Grier, Richard Thomas, Kerry Washington, James Spader (Photo by Robert J. Saferstein)

David Mamet with daughter Clara and wife Rebecca Pidgeon

Gayle King with daughter Kirby Bumpus and son Will Bumpus

Race stars David Alan Grier, James Spader, Kerry Washington and Richard Thomas at starry afterparty at Redeye Grill
 

Audrey J. Bernard is an established chronicler of Black society and Urban happenings based in the New York City area.