Edmond (play)
Encyclopedia
Edmond is a one-act play
written by David Mamet
. It premiere
d at the Goodman Theatre
in Chicago, on June 4, 1982. The first New York production was October 27 of the same year, at the Provincetown Playhouse
. The play consists of twenty-three short scenes. In the original production, each of the actors took on multiple roles, save the two playing Edmond and his wife. Kenneth Branagh
starred as Edmond in a production of the play in London in 2003.
A movie based upon the play
, starring William H. Macy
and Julia Stiles
, has been shown at some film festivals in the U.S. and Europe, and underwent limited U.S. release on July 14, 2006.
-like quality, revolves around the titular character, Edmond Burke, a white-collar worker
in New York City. After a visit to a fortune teller, he decides to leave his wife and embarks on an odyssey through New York's seedy underbelly, which takes him to two bars, a bordello, and a peep show. When he accuses a three-card monte
dealer of running a crooked game, the dealer and his shills beat Edmond to the ground. Increasingly convinced of the ugliness and difficulty of human existence, Edmond buys a knife from a pawnshop. He threatens a woman on a subway platform, then beats an African-American pimp who is trying to rob him, while calling him racial slurs.
Invigorated by the act of violence, he goes to a coffeehouse and propositions his waitress, Glenna. At her apartment, he tells her how alive beating the pimp has made him feel in a highly racialized speech. Glenna compares the feeling to the one she gets when she is acting. Edmond claims she is not a real actress because she only takes acting classes and does not actually perform for a paying audience. Edmond encourages her to be honest with herself, and to say that she is not an actress but a waitress. Glenna begins to find his odd behavior disturbing and asks him to leave. An argument escalates, and Edmond kills her with the knife he has bought.
Later, he hears a preacher at a mission preach that all souls can be redeemed through faith. Edmond wants to go testify to the preacher, but he is identified by the woman from the subway and arrested. He has a short reunion with his wife, who serves him with divorce papers.
In prison, a large African-American cellmate is assigned to him. In a long philosophical speech, Edmond expresses conciliatory feelings to his cellmate and blacks in general, saying that people subconsciously desire what they fear and so whites should not try to avoid blacks. His uninterested cellmate first offers him a cigarette, and then punches him hard in the face twice. Then he threatens to kill him unless Edmond performs oral sex on him, which he does.
Edmond meets with a priest and admits to being sodomized. Although he has reported the incident to the correctional officers, they were uninterested and simply said, "It happens." This is followed with an angry Edmond ranting about God.
In the penultimate scene, Edmond appears to forgive his cellmate, and in the final scene, set a number of years later, the two ruminate on the uncertainty of life and the role of destiny in human affairs as Edmond smokes a cigarette. Edmond utters a line that is nearly an exact quote of one from Hamlet
: "There is a destiny that shapes our ends...rough-hew them how we may." The play ends as the two say "good night" and Edmond kisses his cellmate on the mouth good night, lying beside him in bed.
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
written by David Mamet
David Mamet
David Alan Mamet is an American playwright, essayist, screenwriter and film director.Best known as a playwright, Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize and received a Tony nomination for Glengarry Glen Ross . He also received a Tony nomination for Speed-the-Plow . As a screenwriter, he received Oscar...
. It premiere
Premiere
A premiere is generally "a first performance". This can refer to plays, films, television programs, operas, symphonies, ballets and so on. Premieres for theatrical, musical and other cultural presentations can become extravagant affairs, attracting large numbers of socialites and much media...
d at the Goodman Theatre
Goodman Theatre
The Goodman Theatre is a professional theater company located in Chicago's Loop. A major part of Chicago theatre, it is the city's oldest currently active nonprofit theater organization...
in Chicago, on June 4, 1982. The first New York production was October 27 of the same year, at the Provincetown Playhouse
Provincetown Playhouse
The Provincetown Playhouse is a theater in Manhattan's Greenwich Village. It is named for the Provincetown Players, who converted the former bottling plant into a theater in 1918. Much of the original building was torn down in 2009 as New York University School of Law planned a new building on the...
. The play consists of twenty-three short scenes. In the original production, each of the actors took on multiple roles, save the two playing Edmond and his wife. Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from Northern Ireland. He is best known for directing and starring in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays including Henry V , Much Ado About Nothing , Hamlet Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from...
starred as Edmond in a production of the play in London in 2003.
A movie based upon the play
Edmond (film)
Edmond is a 2005 drama-thriller film starring William H. Macy, based on the play of the same name. It was written by David Mamet and directed by Stuart Gordon....
, starring William H. Macy
William H. Macy
William Hall Macy, Jr. is an American actor and writer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo. He is also a teacher and director in theater, film and television. His film career has been built mostly on his appearances in small, independent films, though...
and Julia Stiles
Julia Stiles
Julia O'Hara Stiles is an American actress.After beginning her career in small parts in a New York City theatre troupe, she has moved on to leading roles in plays by writers as diverse as William Shakespeare and David Mamet...
, has been shown at some film festivals in the U.S. and Europe, and underwent limited U.S. release on July 14, 2006.
Synopsis
The plot, which has a certain fableFable
A fable is a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, mythical creatures, plants, inanimate objects or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized , and that illustrates a moral lesson , which may at the end be expressed explicitly in a pithy maxim.A fable differs from...
-like quality, revolves around the titular character, Edmond Burke, a white-collar worker
White-collar worker
The term white-collar worker refers to a person who performs professional, managerial, or administrative work, in contrast with a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor...
in New York City. After a visit to a fortune teller, he decides to leave his wife and embarks on an odyssey through New York's seedy underbelly, which takes him to two bars, a bordello, and a peep show. When he accuses a three-card monte
Three-card Monte
Three-card Monte, also known as the Three-card marney, Three-card trick, Three-Way, Three-card shuffle, Menage-a-card, Triplets, Follow the lady, Les Trois Perdants , le Bonneteau, Find the lady, or Follow the Bee is a confidence game in which the victim, or mark, is tricked into betting a...
dealer of running a crooked game, the dealer and his shills beat Edmond to the ground. Increasingly convinced of the ugliness and difficulty of human existence, Edmond buys a knife from a pawnshop. He threatens a woman on a subway platform, then beats an African-American pimp who is trying to rob him, while calling him racial slurs.
Invigorated by the act of violence, he goes to a coffeehouse and propositions his waitress, Glenna. At her apartment, he tells her how alive beating the pimp has made him feel in a highly racialized speech. Glenna compares the feeling to the one she gets when she is acting. Edmond claims she is not a real actress because she only takes acting classes and does not actually perform for a paying audience. Edmond encourages her to be honest with herself, and to say that she is not an actress but a waitress. Glenna begins to find his odd behavior disturbing and asks him to leave. An argument escalates, and Edmond kills her with the knife he has bought.
Later, he hears a preacher at a mission preach that all souls can be redeemed through faith. Edmond wants to go testify to the preacher, but he is identified by the woman from the subway and arrested. He has a short reunion with his wife, who serves him with divorce papers.
In prison, a large African-American cellmate is assigned to him. In a long philosophical speech, Edmond expresses conciliatory feelings to his cellmate and blacks in general, saying that people subconsciously desire what they fear and so whites should not try to avoid blacks. His uninterested cellmate first offers him a cigarette, and then punches him hard in the face twice. Then he threatens to kill him unless Edmond performs oral sex on him, which he does.
Edmond meets with a priest and admits to being sodomized. Although he has reported the incident to the correctional officers, they were uninterested and simply said, "It happens." This is followed with an angry Edmond ranting about God.
In the penultimate scene, Edmond appears to forgive his cellmate, and in the final scene, set a number of years later, the two ruminate on the uncertainty of life and the role of destiny in human affairs as Edmond smokes a cigarette. Edmond utters a line that is nearly an exact quote of one from Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
: "There is a destiny that shapes our ends...rough-hew them how we may." The play ends as the two say "good night" and Edmond kisses his cellmate on the mouth good night, lying beside him in bed.