Boston Marriage (play)

Boston Marriage is a 1999 play by American playwright David

Mamet. The play concerns two women at the turn of the 20th century
Boston Marriage
who are in a Boston marriage, a relationship between two women Written by David Mamet
that may involve both physical and emotional intimacy. After Date premiered June 16, 1999
widespread belief that Mamet could only write for men, the
playwright released this play, which centers exclusively on women. Place premiered American
Repertory
Theater
Original language English
Contents
Genre Comedy
Synopsis
Production history
Lesbian Themes
References
External links

Synopsis
Anna and Claire argue over Claire's new found "Love" while Anna's Scottish maid, Catherine, is brought to
tears by her employer's harsh verbal rebukes. Things get tense as Anna, a mistress to a wealthy gentleman,
tries to talk Claire out of her profession of love for another: a young woman. Claire, on the other hand, has
already made plans with her young love to meet at Anna's house in the hopes that she will be able to persuade
her new love to engage in a "vile assignation." Things go awry, however, when the girl arrives and recognizes
that an emerald necklace that Anna is wearing belongs to her mother.

The plot line focuses on whether Anna and Claire will be able to find a way to hold on to both the girl and her
wealthy but unfaithful father. The play is delivered through quick, witty Victorian-era dialogue, mixed with
double entendres and vernacular expressions, to explore the relationship between the two women and their
maid. Through humor and nuance, the play explores the negotiation, conflict, compromise and reconciliation
that arise in their relationship.

Production history
Boston Marriage was originally produced by the American Repertory Theater (Robert Brustein, Artistic
Director; Robert J. Orchard, Managing Director) at the Hasty Pudding Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts
on June 4, 1999. It was directed by David Mamet; the set design was by Sharon Kaitz and J. Michael Griggs;
the lighting design was by John Ambrosone; and the costume design was by Harriet Voyt. The cast included
Rebecca Pidgeon (Claire), Felicity Huffman (Anna), and Mary McCann (Catherine).[1]

It was performed in London at the Donmar Warehouse from March 2001 until April 2001. Directed by
Phyllida Lloyd, it featured Zoë Wanamaker (Anna), Anna Chancellor (Claire), and Lyndsey Marshal. It
moved to the West End at the New Ambassadors Theatre, where it ran from November 28, 2001 until
February 16, 2002.[2]
Boston Marriage was first performed in Melbourne in 2007 produced by leading independent theatre company
Hoy Polloy. It was directed by Hoy Polloy Artistic Director Wayne Pearn and featured Helen Hopkins,
Corinne Davies and Eleanor Wilson.

Boston Marriage ran Off-Broadway at The Public Theater from November 5, 2002 through December 22,
2002. It was directed by Karen Kohlhaas and starred Kate Burton as Anna, Martha Plimpton as Claire, and
Arden Myrin.[3]

The play was performed in Lima, Peru in early 2007 under the direction of theatre director and actor Alberto
Isola.[4]

The play was performed in Melbourne, Australia by the Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC) through June
2010. Pamela Rabe, Margaret Mills and Sara Gleeson star, directed by Aidan Fennessy. It returned to the
Boston area in September 2010, as presented at the New Repertory Theater. As part of the Dublin Theatre
Festival 2010, the Gate Theatre, Dublin, Ireland staged Boston Marriage as part of its "BMP" programme;
celebrating the links between Beckett, Pinter and Mamet. The play ran on 29 September and 2 October,
2010.[5]

Lesbian Themes
Boston Marriage is one of the few plays written by a male playwright that exclusively includes lesbian
characters. The play takes on an anti-patriarchal stance. Anna does not show any genuine interest in the man
she is involved with. In the end of the play, Anna’s male love interest leaves her for his wife and wants her to
return the emerald jewel that he gave her. This gives Claire fiscal power over Anna which contrasts the
Victorian tradition of men owning their wives’ money.

The plot of Boston Marriage does not include the common stereotypes of women being married to a man,
financially dependent on their husbands, and spend most of their time taking care of their children.[6]

Lesbian themes in theatre is a direct response to America’s anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-theatrical attitudes in its
history. “Lesbian” was not a word used in Western society until the nineteenth century. The roles of lesbian
and gay characters in theatre were considered to be two separate themes until the latter half of the twentieth
century. There is not as much public interest in plays written exclusively about lesbian characters than there are
about plays with exclusively gay characters. Similarly to early plays that included gay characters, plays
including lesbians traditionally ended in violence and death. Plays with exclusively lesbian characters that
were written by lesbian playwrights targeted all-female audiences.[7]

More lesbian plays were written in the 1960s and 1970s largely due to the feminist movement. Lack of public
interest lead to a decrease in the number of lesbian plays written and performed until the late 1990s when The
Boston Marriage was written and early twenty-first century.[8]

LGBTQ+ theatre is dominated by white gay men. David Mamet is one of the few heterosexual male
playwrights to write about a play with exclusively lesbian characters.[9]

Boston Marriage is the only play David Mamet wrote that only includes lesbian characters.[10]

References
1. Dramatists.com, Boston Marriage script, Dramatists Play Service Inc.
2. History of productions of Boston Marriage in London (http://www.albemarle-london.com/Archiv
e/ArchiveShow.php?Show_Name=Boston%20Marriage) Archived (https://web.archive.org/we
 b/20080218215246/http://www.albemarle-london.com/Archive/ArchiveShow.php?Show_Name
=Boston%20Marriage) February 18, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
3. "Review" (http://www.curtainup.com/bostonmarriageny.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/
web/20160303180621/http://www.curtainup.com/bostonmarriageny.html) March 3, 2016, at the
Wayback Machine Curtain Up
4. PUCP | Centro Cultural (http://www.pucp.edu.pe/centro_cultural/index.php3?c_idseccion=2&c
_idnot=2360) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20070519212118/http://www.pucp.edu.pe/
centro_cultural/index.php3?c_idseccion=2&c_idnot=2360) May 19, 2007, at the Wayback
Machine
5. Boston Marriage (http://archive.dublintheatrefestival.com/programme/display_archive.asp?Eve
ntid=462&m=) dublintheatrefestival.com (archive), accessed October 24, 2015
6. Zimmerman, Bonnie (2013-08-21). Encyclopedia of Lesbian Histories and Cultures (https://boo
ks.google.com/?id=oSmBAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA762&lpg=PA762&dq=lack+of+lesbian+plays#v=
onepage&q=lack%20of%20lesbian%20plays&f=false). ISBN 9781136787508.
7. Wang, Wencong (2014). "Lesbianism and Lesbian Theatre". Comparative Literature: East &
West. 21: 113–123. doi:10.1080/25723618.2014.12015466 (https://doi.org/10.1080%2F257236
18.2014.12015466).
8. [1] (http://www.newnownext.com/are-lesbians-the-black-sheep-of-broadway/08/2017/)
9. [2] (http://www.playbill.com/article/why-we-need-to-address-the-lack-of-lesbian-stories-on-stag
e)
10. [3] (https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/nov/29/the-seven-rages-of-david-mamet-genius-or
-symbol-of-toxic-masculinity)

External links
Curtain Up review, London, March 17, 2001 (http://www.curtainup.com/bostonmarriage.html)
Lortel listing (https://web.archive.org/web/20071024211338/http://www.lortel.org//lla_archive/in
dex.cfm?search_by=show&id=4921)
New York Times review, November 21, 2002 (https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/21/theater/thea
ter-review-a-boy-s-idea-of-girl-talk-from-mamet.html)
Boston.com review (http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2010/09/18/stage_review_b
oston_marriage_isnt_your_typical_mamet/)
[4] (https://books.google.com/books?id=oSmBAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA762&lpg=PA762&dq=lack+o
f+lesbian+plays&source=bl&ots=lYZC0XyEb9&sig=ACfU3U2H4kbMZcD8mW6aZ3P5sz3jRE
O8jw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjH4rH-nazmAhWkZd8KHWwWDgU4ChDoATAJegQICRA
B#v=onepage&q=lack%20of%20lesbian%20plays&f=false)
[5] (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/25723618.2014.12015466)
[6] (http://www.newnownext.com/are-lesbians-the-black-sheep-of-broadway/08/2017/)
[7] (http://www.playbill.com/article/why-we-need-to-address-the-lack-of-lesbian-stories-on-stag
e)
[https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/nov/29/the-seven-rages-of-david-mamet-genius-or-
symbol-of-toxic-masculinity

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