Race
1 hour and 40 minutes, with one intermission
Race - 2009 Broadway History , Info & More
Ethel Barrymore Theatre (Broadway)
243 West 47th St. New York, NY
From Pulitzer Prize winner David Mamet, comes his most explosive four-letter word yet. Race.
Race is the riveting new play by America’s foremost playwright, Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner David Mamet (Glengarry Glen Ross, Speed-the-Plow, American Buffalo, November).
Directed by the playwright, it stars Emmy Award winner James Spader (“Boston Legal,” Sex, Lies and Videotape), Tony nominee and television star David Alan Grier (“A Soldier’s Story,” “In Living Color”, “Chocolate News”), Kerry Washington (Ray, Lakeview Terrace) and Richard Thomas (“The Waltons,” Democracy, Twelve Angry Men).
Race - 2009 - Broadway Cast
FEATURED REVIEWS FOR Race
Race
5 / 10
For all the verve of its neo-Shavian back-and-forth, however, Race falters on its way to the finish line. Adept at articulating the play’s issues, Mamet is less successful at dramatizing them. The play is not unlike an 80-minute episode of a televised legal drama (on cable, where they can use the f-word). Its two lawyers are played well by Spader and David Alan Grier, but they have little dimension beyond their arguments; and the other two characters, who have more opportunity for development, register largely as ciphers.
'Oleanna' Meets 'The Verdict'
5 / 10
The problem with 'Race' is that it's a bit too familiar. Specifically, it plays like a cross between Mr. Mamet's 'Oleanna' and his screenplay for 'The Verdict.' I can't say much more than that without giving away the 'surprises' sprinkled throughout the plot, in which two lawyers, one white (James Spader) and one black (David Alan Grier), decide whether to defend a famous millionaire (Richard Thomas) who is accused of raping a young black woman—a decision complicated by the fact that one of their employees (Kerry Washington) is also a young black woman. But those who know Mr. Mamet's work more than casually will likely be able to guess many of the directions in which he takes this conceit, and that's a big part of what's wrong with 'Race.'
Category
Race History
Other Productions of Race
| 2009 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Race - 2009 Broadway Awards and Nominations
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | David Alan Grier |
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