Rating: 
Summary: A good Mamet piece, a better look at the educational topoi
Review: "Oleanna," the gripping tale of a teacher-student relationship gone awry, raises multiple social issues in education. Perhaps the most noted issue is of the preasence of sexual harassment in education. While the play bases this idea for a plot, the main idea of the play does not deal with sexual harassment, but with issues of power in the heirarchal power structure of education. While many felt that Mamet's original production of this piece heavily "stacked the deck" against Carol (the student), the film version of the play tends to even the odds a little bit more. Bottom line, read this play and share it with multiple people. This piece invokes some of the greatest discussion amongst it's readers. The issues of character development, gender bias, and power make for a supremely thought provoking piece. Well written, and well developed, "Oleanna" aides in securing Mamet his place among the greatest modern playwrights.
Rating:
Summary: A good Mamet piece, a better look at the educational topoi
Review: "Oleanna," the gripping tale of a teacher-student relationship gone awry, raises multiple social issues in education. Perhaps the most noted issue is of the preasence of sexual harassment in education. While the play bases this idea for a plot, the main idea of the play does not deal with sexual harassment, but with issues of power in the heirarchal power structure of education. While many felt that Mamet's original production of this piece heavily "stacked the deck" against Carol (the student), the film version of the play tends to even the odds a little bit more. Bottom line, read this play and share it with multiple people. This piece invokes some of the greatest discussion amongst it's readers. The issues of character development, gender bias, and power make for a supremely thought provoking piece. Well written, and well developed, "Oleanna" aides in securing Mamet his place among the greatest modern playwrights.
Rating:
Summary: Inflammatory and fascinating
Review: David Mamet's Oleanna was polarizing when it premiered on Broadway--audiences tended to sympathize with one character and hate the other.The experience of reading Oleanna rather than seeing it is a rewarding one. The play features two characters: John, a professor up for tenure, and Carol, his student. Each of these characters is in the midst of their own problems when we meet them in the first act--John is arguing with his wife and in the midst of buying a new house (as a celebration of his impending tenure), and Carol is desperately trying not to fail John's class. When the show opens, Carol has come to John to ask him not to fail her--unfortunately, John is on and off the phone with his realtor and his wife and barely pays attention to Carol. This is the setup from which the rest of the play unravels. Ultimately, Carol accuses John of sexual harassment--and, although it is easy to say that John never propositions Carol, the reader can see where Carol might have gotten that idea. John, in his haste to leave, says and does things that in retrospect (the second act) seem like mistakes. Each is a full and fascinating character--John stands on the brink of losing everything that has ever mattered to him, and Carol becomes an ardent feminist activist in the third act. To say more would be a spoiler. This play is a fascinating character study, examining academia, language, and the startling effect of bad communication. A brilliant and biting play.
Rating: 
Summary: A masterpiece even for the many that have never heard of it.
Review: For those of you who like your movies/books spoon-fed to you and/or if you appreciate those authors that like to think for you and then they spell everything out for you so you don't have to do any of that difficult thinking for yourself, this is NOT the book for you. Never has Mamet been accused of playing to an audience and he doesn't break that rumor here. What he does do though, is creates a very intense and difficult situation. The problem with the story is that there isn't any clear winner or loser. Who is right and Who is wrong? I dare you to choose. Would love to see Rebecca Pidgeon in the play production so I could just sit and drool over her. Hubba Hubba. Unfortunately she's not in the film version.
Rating: 
Summary: Good idea, poor execution
Review: How does the female protagonist go from Act 1, being completely inable to comprehend the slightest thought, to Act 2, after being indoctorinated by the feminist cannon, to not only understanding and comprehending but building a refutation for everything the professor says? Oversight indeed. An attempt to retailiate for the policial correct corruption in the world, thought the execution lacks, resulting in an unconvincing work.
Rating:
Summary: Truly thought provoking
Review: I am a college student. I just finished Oleanna by David Mamet. I'll never ever ever sit in a meeting with another teacher again. Enough said. Or is it.... This play is so original and thought provoking that I was screaming at the characters out loud as I read. The most interesting thing about this work is the fact that of the two characters, EACH ARE RIGHT IN THEIR OWN WAY, AND EACH ARE WRONG IN THEIR OWN WAY. the question remains: WHOM DO YOU FEEL PITY FOR? Who is right and who is wrong? THE BREAKDOWN OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION IS THE SADDEST THING TO COME OF OUR NEW AGE SOCIETY. Read this play, it will change how you view a lot of things. Kinda scary.
Rating:
Summary: Oleana: The Loss of cordiality
Review: I am not sure if David Mamet wrote "Oleana" in response to Anita Hill's accusations against Clarence Thomas, but, his insightful portrayal of how some feminist activists sometimes misuses men as a means to accomplish their agenda would be humorous were it not truly sad. Mamet critiques several relationships in this play including that of humans to humans. In the final analysis of the sexual harassment situation demonstrated in the play, Mamet illustrates how cruel humans can be to one another. Can there really be interest in and cordiality between men and women, student and professor? Does there alwyas have to be or assumed to be some sexual tension or inuendo going on? Or has the declining morals in society dictated that in age of uncertainity and suspicion, people must distance themselves from one another for fear that words, gestures, and intensions can be totally miscontrued and taken out context?
Rating:
Summary: Never a complete sentence!
Review: I disliked this play very much. It is little more than a vehicle for William H. Macy (a fine actor, who is typecast) to stutter and seem confused for 90 minutes. Imagine watching the Macy character in Fargo for 90 minutes! I was expecting tremendous dialog as in Glengary Glen Ross-- I was very disappointed. The dialog in Oleanna was obtuse and difficult. The theme of politically-correctness became tiresome very quickly. This play has very narrow appeal and was obviously a pet project by a fading playwright. Bottom-line: it gave me a headache.
Rating:
Summary: One of Mamet's all-time greatest
Review: I do not think there has been a play in the past twenty years that has inspired more arguments than David Mamet's "Oleanna". Mamet has never been angrier, sharper, or more inspired. More than that, however, Mamet has added a new aspect to this work: ambiguity. The play revolves around two characters. The first, John, is a college professor. He sits behind the desk in his office, hiding behind a large vocabulary and a cocky disposition. Enter Carol, an attractive student who is having trouble understanding John's concepts in his class. John only half-listens to her problems. He spends most of the time listening to himself talk and distracting himself with complications from buying a new house. Act One is initially hard to follow, and seems to go nowhere. However, when Act Two rolls along, the purpose is sealed. It turns out that certain words and one key gesture were misinterpreted, and John's career is on the line. As the play progresses, it turns out that Carol has more than a few tricks up her sleeve. The play is insanely intriguing because of the motivations behind the two characters. We know people like this in our life, and to see both of them on their last leg, relying on whatever resources they have to get on top, is fascinating. The most incredible aspect of this play, however, is the aforementioned abiguity. Although certain productions may lean toward one character or the other, the script itself presents two very flawed characters, making the hero/villain line rather blurry. Men tend to side toward John, while women find Carol the victim, but the play takes no sides. Years from now, when Mamet has passed, and his work remains, I believe this will sit on the shelf with his best works. It is a quick, inexpensive read, and one of the best American plays in years.
Rating:
Summary: One of Mamet's all-time greatest
Review: I do not think there has been a play in the past twenty years that has inspired more arguments than David Mamet's "Oleanna". Mamet has never been angrier, sharper, or more inspired. More than that, however, Mamet has added a new aspect to this work: ambiguity. The play revolves around two characters. The first, John, is a college professor. He sits behind the desk in his office, hiding behind a large vocabulary and a cocky disposition. Enter Carol, an attractive student who is having trouble understanding John's concepts in his class. John only half-listens to her problems. He spends most of the time listening to himself talk and distracting himself with complications from buying a new house. Act One is initially hard to follow, and seems to go nowhere. However, when Act Two rolls along, the purpose is sealed. It turns out that certain words and one key gesture were misinterpreted, and John's career is on the line. As the play progresses, it turns out that Carol has more than a few tricks up her sleeve. The play is insanely intriguing because of the motivations behind the two characters. We know people like this in our life, and to see both of them on their last leg, relying on whatever resources they have to get on top, is fascinating. The most incredible aspect of this play, however, is the aforementioned abiguity. Although certain productions may lean toward one character or the other, the script itself presents two very flawed characters, making the hero/villain line rather blurry. Men tend to side toward John, while women find Carol the victim, but the play takes no sides. Years from now, when Mamet has passed, and his work remains, I believe this will sit on the shelf with his best works. It is a quick, inexpensive read, and one of the best American plays in years.
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