THE WOODS
Even more troubling is Mamet’s less-than-evenhanded treatment of his female characters. Not that there are many to choose from. And even fewer if you eliminate those who never make it onto the stage–like “fuckin’ Ruthie” and Grace in American Buffalo and all the offstage wives in Glengarry Glen Ross. Those you’re left with–the manipulative bitch Madonna played in Speed-the-Plow, the angry, kvetching shrew who makes even Lucifer’s life miserable in Bobby Gould in Hell, the emotionally stunted, mannish woman Lindsay Crouse plays in House of Games–are the uncharitable projections of an angry, not very perceptive, phallocentric writer.
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Given Mamet’s bleak message about heterosexual relationships in The Woods it’s not hard to see why this play is so seldom revived. What’s harder to understand is why in the 15 years since The Woods premiered Mamet has never created another woman’s role as strong or multidimensional as Ruth. That of course is a question only Mamet, or perhaps his therapist if he has one, can answer.
