ACTA – Play OLEANNA

Oleanna refers to a utopia: the name of a colony in Pennsylvania where human life could not settle, hindered by the density of the forest.

Here, too, nothing is simple. With each word, the conflict thickens. With each silence, each phone call, doubt grows.

A student meets with her professor in his office three times. First to discuss the grade of a subject in which she has been struggling (whose bibliography includes a book authored by the professor himself). Then, in a second meeting, to talk about an alleged harassment situation that supposedly took place during the first encounter.

And later, to present the demands of a group of students who support the accusation.

Between the two characters, an atmosphere is established that is familiar to us, a place where truth is relative and where the space occupied by doubt leaves little room for certainties. In a power play based on the spheres of the public and private, we come to feel that (as is often the case today) even when present, we may not be able to distinguish what is true and what is not. According to the author himself, "whatever conclusion you reach, it is wrong."

A play by playwright David Mamet, featuring performances by Luís Vicente and Tânia Silva.

"Oleanna is a very, very complex text. Right from the symbolism that the title carries. The assumptions that determine its reading led the author to state: 'Whatever conclusion you reach, it is wrong!'. From my point of view, this text, dated 1992, does not recommend a realistic approach for its construction - and thus, it has generally been approached worldwide.

The characteristics of the world we move in today, with its various complexities, suggest, as I understand, a different aesthetic and artistic approach, more symbolic. As I read, analyzed, and internalized it, I realized the existence of a third 'character': the phone. As far as I know, it was the director Ricardo Pais who introduced it in his staging of Oleanna in 2019. I want to believe that in the set and diversity of multiple influences, our show is enriched by the previous versions I have learned about."

Luís Vicente / Director
Source: https://www.cm-albufeira.pt/evento/acta-peca-de-teatro-oleanna