Romance is a play 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 opened in 2005 off-Broadway

Off-Broadway

Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...

 at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and was also performed at London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

's Almeida Theatre, starring John Mahoney

John Mahoney

John Mahoney is a British born American actor, known for playing Martin "Marty" Crane, the retired police officer, father of Kelsey Grammer's Dr...

, later that year. A fast-paced, madcap comedy-farce, the main action of the play occurs in a courtroom

Courtroom

A courtroom is the actual enclosed space in which a judge regularly holds court.The schedule of official court proceedings is called a docket; the term is also synonymous with a court's caseload as a whole.-Courtroom design:-United States:...

 presided over by a judge (Larry Bryggman

Larry Bryggman

Larry Bryggman is an American actor.-Early life:Bryggman was born in Concord, California of Swedish descent; his father worked for a neon sign company and his mother was a piano teacher. Bryggman attended the City College of San Francisco as well as the American Theatre Wing in New York...

 in the original cast) whose allergy

Allergy

An Allergy is a hypersensitivity disorder of the immune system. Allergic reactions occur when a person's immune system reacts to normally harmless substances in the environment. A substance that causes a reaction is called an allergen. These reactions are acquired, predictable, and rapid...

 medications make him, in the first act, so drowsy he repeatedly falls asleep, and in the second act so manic

Manic

Manić is a suburban settlement of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in the municipality of Barajevo.Manić developed on the eastern slopes of the Kosmaj mountain...

 he eventually ends up stripping in the middle of the court. Meanwhile, the prosecutor

Prosecutor

The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...

 has to deal with his flamboyant and often difficult-to-control boyfriend Bernard (Keith Nobbs). The gentile

Gentile

The term Gentile refers to non-Israelite peoples or nations in English translations of the Bible....

 defense attorney

Defense (legal)

In civil proceedings and criminal prosecutions under the common law, a defendant may raise a defense in an attempt to avoid criminal or civil liability...

 is swapping racial slurs with his Jewish client, who suddenly comes up with a brilliant idea to solve all the problems in the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

. The question is, can he cut through all the courtroom drama in time to make the plan work?