David Mamet’s Oleanna returns to Bath

Acclaimed staging of David Mamet’s Oleanna returns to Bath for three-week run at the Ustinov Studio prior to West End transfer

David Mamet’s Oleanna is set to return to Bath this summer giving a not-to-be-missed opportunity to catch one of the great modern dramas of our time, immediately prior to its West End transfer to London’s Arts Theatre. Starring Jonathan Slinger and Rosie Sheehy, this superlative production directed by Lucy Bailey will appear at the Ustinov Studio from Monday 14^th June to Saturday 3^rd July.

When David Mamet’s 1992 play Oleanna first opened nearly thirty years ago, it caused uproar amongst audiences from New York to London. Writing in The Guardian, Michael Billington stated that it “enflamed passions and divided partners”.  

When Lucy Bailey’s 2020 staging of Oleanna opened in the Ustinov Studio last December it was greeted with five-star reviews from the national critics who praised the sensational performances of Jonathan Slinger and Rosie Sheehy. The public acclaimed it as a masterpiece which continues to provoke the passionate response for which this extraordinary drama is famous.

Set on an American campus, a seemingly innocuous conversation between a college professor and his female student warps into a nightmare which threatens to destroy them both, when she files a claim of sexual harassment against him. With its take on the corrosive excesses of political correctness and exploration of the use and abuse of language, this is the ultimate drama of pupil power and student revenge.

Addressing issues which are strikingly current, this is a fascinating opportunity to see this landmark play from the perspective of our #MeToo era.

Jonathan Slinger, who plays the role of John, is one of the leading Shakespearean actors of his generation whose remarkable number of leading roles for the Royal Shakespeare Company includes Hamlet, Macbeth, Prospero and Malvolio. His extensive theatre credits include numerous productions for the RSC, the National Theatre and in the West End. Previously at the Theatre Royal Bath, Jonathan starred in Plastic at the Ustinov Studio in 2017 and The Cherry Orchard at the Theatre Royal in 1994. Amongst his many West End roles, he performed in the London transfer of Trouble in Mind in 2017, a production which opened at the Ustinov Studio in 2016. His television credits include, the recent BBC series The Salisbury Poisonings and I May Destroy You; as well as roles in Kiri, Nelson in his Own Words, Playing Ball, Doctors, Vexed, Paradox, Hustle, A Touch of Frost, The Genius of Beethoven, To The Ends of the Earth, Hunter, Rosemary & Thyme, Midsomer Murders, Foyle’s War and Cold Feet.

Rosie Sheehy plays the role of Carol. Her previous stage credits include the title role in King John for the Royal Shakespeare Company; Uncle Vanya for Theatre Clwyd and Sheffield Theatres, for which she won the Best Female Performance in the English Language at the Wales Theatre Awards 2018; Strife at Chichester Festival Theatre; The Hairy Ape at London’s Old Vic Theatre and The Whale at the Ustinov Studio in 2018. Rosie’s screen credits include playing Rebecca in crime drama Ire, a film which is due to be screened this year; and roles in BBC’s Call The Midwife, ITV’s Wild Bill and DCI Banks, and the Sky series Chernobyl.

Director Lucy Bailey started her career after writing to Samuel Beckett at the age of twenty asking to stage his story Lessness. Since then she has worked with the National Theatre, Glyndebourne Opera and the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 2012 her RSC production of The Taming of the Shrew toured to Bath. Her West End and touring production of The Importance of Being Earnest played the Theatre Royal in 2014, and her staging of Hitchcock’s thriller Dial M For Murder toured to Bath in 2009. Lucy directed King Lear starring David Haig for Theatre Royal Bath’s 2013 Summer Season and Switzerland starring Phyllis Logan at Bath’s Ustinov Studio for the 2018 Summer Season. Her 2019 production of Gaslight starring Martin Shaw also toured to Bath.

Playwright, film director, screenwriter and author, David Mamet is one of the most distinctive voices in stage and film writing today. His multi award-winning plays also include Glengarry Glen Ross, Speed-the-Plow and American Buffalo.

Oleanna appears at the Ustinov Studio from Monday 14^th June to Saturday 3^rd July.

Tickets are on sale at the Theatre Royal Bath Box Office on 01225 448844 and online at www.theatreroyal.org.uk