Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright David Mamet Visits Stern College for Women
David Mamet, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright behind “Glengarry Glen Ross” and “American Buffalo”, visited Stern College for Women on April 1 for a student-led discussion organized by The Stern College Dramatics Society and the Stern English department.
The event, held in Room 301 of the 245 Lexington building, drew more than 40 students from both campuses. In a conversation that lasted two hours, Mamet answered questions and spoke about his writing process, career in theater and the role Judaism has played in his work.
Mamet spoke at length about his Jewish identity and the influence of Judaism on his career. He shared personal stories about his grandmother, Clara Mamet, who immigrated to the United States from Poland, and her brothers, who were killed during World War II. Jewish writers, he noted, have played a significant role in shaping American entertainment since its early days.
“Of course, Judaism has inspired my works,” he told students. “If you’re a Jew, I think it inspires everything one does.”
Reuven Russel, a speech and communications professor at SCW and the director of the dramatic societies at SCW and YC, told The Commentator that Mamet has long been one of his favorite playwrights.
“At the Yale School of Drama, I directed and acted in two of his plays, ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ and ‘Speed-the-Plow’,” Russell said. “Mamet,” he added, “is a very proud Jew, a big supporter of Israel and has had no qualms expressing this publicly.”
During the Q&A, Mamet encouraged the audience to pursue their creative goals without hesitation.
“Is there anything stopping you from writing a book? Is there anything stopping you from making a movie?” he asked students. He further stressed the importance of consistent effort and cited his weekly Torah study as part of his personal discipline.
Being a writer requires a single-minded conviction to the craft, Mamet explained. “People say, ‘I want to have something to fall back on,’” he told the audience. “But if you have something to fall back on, you’re going to fall back on it.”
Reflecting on his early years, Mamet told students how he had always told stories as a kid and began writing monologues in college. In his early years, he worked at the first improvisational theater in Chicago, Second City. Since then, the spontaneity of improv has inspired his writing, he told students.
Students also asked about Mamet’s approach to writing and structure.
“All the performing arts have to do with plot,” he told the audience, which “has to do with raising expectations, lowering expectations, misleading expectations and fulfilling expectations.” He explained that even in a seemingly random series of events, people tend to “intuit a plot” as “it’s in our human nature to try to figure out what’s going to happen next.” A plot can be compelling in its simplicity, he explained, giving the example of “two walruses going into a laundromat.” Right away, “everybody wonders what’s going to happen next,” he said.
Mamet also discussed his literary influences, naming Victorian writers such as Anthony Trollope and Mary Elizabeth Braddon.
“I’ll read anything, I’ll read the instructions on a hammer,” he added.
“It was so inspiring to hear David Mamet come to YU and encourage the students that there is nothing holding us back, that we each have a camera in our hands,” Joshua Johnson (BRGS ‘24), a graduate student at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, told The Commentator. “If there is anything we want to do, like make a movie, we should just do it.”
“David Mamet is probably the most influential playwright of our generation,” Eliana Diamond (SCW ‘25) told The Commentator. “Having someone of his caliber speak at Stern was incredibly special.”
“When I posted about the event on my status, so many people were in awe that he was coming to speak at YU,” Diamond, the co-president of SCDS, added. “Hearing Mamet quote pesukim and stories in Tanach highlighted how integral the Torah is for him, and how intertwined and foundational the Torah is to the creative process.”
Mamet is the author of numerous plays and screenplays, including “American Buffalo,” “Speed-the-Plow” and “Glengarry Glen Ross,” which recently returned to Broadway. His film credits include “The Untouchables,” “Wag the Dog” and “House of Games,” which he also directed. Mamet is a founding member of the Atlantic Theater Company and the creator of the CBS series The Unit. He lives in California with his wife, actress Rebecca Pidgeon.
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
Photo caption: David Mamet
