The David Mamet play Oleanna is getting ready to begin previews in New York at the John Golden Theatre. Opening night is scheduled for October 11, and the previews will begin this month on September 29th. New York Broadway tickets for the play are currently available from various sources and the intense drama, something not unfamiliar to Mamet, is likely to sell out regularly. David Mamet is usually a guaranteed sell for both his stage works and screen plays. And while many of his characters are incredibly messed up, they are certainly charged with a universal human quality that through the extremities of the situation and language, as well as his use of dialogue, they remain identifiable and remarkably empathetic.

Oleanna is a two person script that deals with the charged relationship of a university professor, who is a male, and his student, who is female. The student accuses the professor of sexual misconduct and exploitation, which comes between him and his changes for tenure. The play was originally produced at an Off Broadway theatre in 1992, after it was premiered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This original production stared Rebecca Pidgeon and William H. Macy.

In addition to plays, Mamet has been an extremely successful screenwriter. He wrote the screenplay for such films as The Verdict, The Spanish Prisoner, Wag the Dog and The Postman Always Rings Twice among a great deal of others. He is also successful and respected as a director and tends to work with people he has a previous working relationship with. Of course this works great for established writers and directors, but can be rather difficult for first timers. Other stage plays written by Mamet include Glengarry Glen Ross for which he won the Pulitzer Prize, Speed the Plow and Sexual Perversity in Chicago. Regardless of the medium in which he is working, Mamet is extremely well known for and often recognized by his use of dialogue.