Alex Aroyo Blog Post #4: Oleanna play write-up

To this day I hold no regrets in paying the amount I had to see the live production of Oleanna. There is a unique emotional connection to experience in a live performance that is lost with film.
The atmosphere had an intimate feel about it with the stage squared off by four sets of risers. The actors' expressions were easily distinguishable from the distance my girlfriend and I were sitting (yes, I tricked my girlfriend into going with me and thankfully she appreciated it).
The live performance had some clear differences from the film that I quickly picked up on. Many of the abstract and allusive ideas from the film seem more straight forward and apparent on stage. Carol's role seemed much more emotionally driven with less of a sheltered and innocent demeanor and more anger and instability. The professor also seemed comparatively more condescending and dismissive toward Carol. I noted in the last scene Carol would use certain phrases that seemed like they were meant to provoke the professor. The same could be said for the film, but on stage they seemed a bit more aggressive and added to a more understandable mounting frustration on the professor's part.
Stage productions leave no room for multiple takes or as much in depth detail as a film production, but given the material for the actors to work with, I would say the live performance excellently conveyed the thoughts of David Mamet.