The Old Neighbourhood by David Mamet, Royal Court Theatre at the Duke Of York’s Theatre, 11 July 1998

All I wrote in my log was:

No interval.

That suggests that we didn’t get a great deal out of this one, unusually for Mamet. Possibly we just felt that we’d seen a lot of material like this before.

Was it three short plays or one play with three somewhat disconnected scene?. I wrote down

The Disappearance of the Jews, Jolly and Deeny.

Splendid cast: Linal Haft, Colin Stinton, Zoe Wanamaker, Vincent Marzello and Diana Quick, directed by Patrick Marber.

Nicholas de Jongh really liked it:

de Jongh, Standard, Mametde Jongh, Standard, Mamet 24 Jun 1998, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend, Michael Billington also liked it a lot:

Billington Guardian MametBillington Guardian Mamet 24 Jun 1998, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in the Telegraph was less sure:

Spencer Telegraph MametSpencer Telegraph Mamet 25 Jun 1998, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Kate Kellaway’s interview with Patrick Marber is very interesting:

Kellaway Observer Marber InterviewKellaway Observer Marber Interview 14 Jun 1998, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Reading these reviews and the interview, I think I should, 25 years later, re-read the play(s) and see what I think of them now.

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