23:00, Wed 1st – Sat 4th February 2006 at ADC Theatre
Lent Week 2

"You have an agenda, we have an agenda. I am not interested in your feelings or your motivation, but your actions"

After receiving a failing mid-term grade, a university student confronts her teacher in his office. After the meeting becomes physical, she files a complaint of sexual harassment against her professor.

David Mamet's explosive 1993 play arrives on the ADC stage in a bold torrent of searing eloquence. Set in a university context it questions everything about the higher education system. It pulls its audience this way and that, leaving them feeling somewhat violated. Its first production did just that, causing a sensation and dividing couples over its depiction of political correctness gone haywire. By using time distortion, this production promises to be truly original and highly provocative. With its violently paced and poetic dialogue, Oleanna will certainly have a hard hitting effect on you. Not a word is redundant, every moment is tense, and engaging. It is always disturbing, frequently menacing but only at the end breaks into violence. The control is immaculate. The ringing of a phone becomes a battle cry, words become weapons, and an ordinary meeting becomes a war of wills and ideologies. Watch these two familiar characters tread a sexual minefield. Anything may trigger it off.