Word: cryptogramic
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...cryptogram...
David Mamet's new play, "the cryptogram," lives up to its name; it is a complex and, at times, inscrutable work. "the cryptogram" chronicles the breakdown of the relationships between a strangely prophetic ten-year-old, John (Sheldon Dane), his exhausted mother Donny (Felicity Huffman), and their ineffectual neighbor, Del. (Ed Begly...
...characters to understand or to control the events of their lives is expressed in these words--they pop out of the dialogue and steer one towards understanding, even when the sum of the conversation is obtuse. Through these moments of clarity, Mamet offers us clues to 'the cryptogram...
With "the cryptogram" Mamet is presenting his audience with a new kind of puzzle. While the play lacks the compelling intensity of his earlier works such as "Glengary, Glenross" or the amazing "Oleanna," the intellectual challenge of sifting through the dialogue to try to hear what Mamet has to say is exciting. The actors, after some initial stumbling, carry off the piece with energy and subtlety. Presumably, since Mamet is directing, they are fulfilling whatever vision he had for the piece...
...cryptogram" expecting to be able to easily unravel the various levels of meaning. Understanding comes not when one is leaving the theater or even on the way home, but only through subsequent thought and analysis. "the cryptogram" fits well the description Winston Churchill once used for the Soviet Union--"a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma...