GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS, by David Mamet
BREAKDOWN OF CHARACTERS

As scripted—and performed—since the 1980s, all of the characters in David Mamet’s critically-acclaimed play are men.  This production will cast all of these roles with women., but we will NOT change the script in any way.  Legally, it cannot, and ethically, it should not. Not to mention leaving the script as is will lead to the best production.  Notes below are just one dumb man's take. 

NOTE: THESE CHARACTERS ARE WOMEN...THAT IS CERTAIN.  THE RACE, AGE, RELIGION, HAIR COLOR, EYE COLOR, HEIGHT, WEIGHT, AND SO ON WILL BE DETERMINED BY WHOMEVER IS BEST FOR THE CHARACTER AND THUS CAST.  

SHELLY “THE MACHINE” LEVENE:  Real estate salesperson in a slump.  Used to be at the top of the sales hill, but time may have passed Shelly by.  Shelly hasn’t made ANY sales in some time, which is problematic on its own.  We raise the stakes, though,  when we note that there appears to be something wrong with Shelly’s daughter.  This transforms a struggling person into a desperate person.   

RICKY ROMA: Top salesperson.  On top of the world at the moment.  Excellent at selling.  Confident, smooth, disarming when needed.  Roma cares about one thing: Roma. 

JOHN WILLIAMSON: The office manager.  Williamson is the only non-salesperson in the group, reviled by the sales folks like most “middle management” types are.  At first, one might think Williamson is a weakling, has no power, but Williamson has a great deal of power over Roma, Levene, Moss, and Aaronow. 

DAVE MOSS: #2 salesperson on the board.  Excitable.  Easily angered.  Lacks the smoothness of Roma, and seems pretty insecure about that.  Moss wants to be the top dog, and probably believes that’s also what SHOULD be.  Manipulative. 

GEORGE AARONOW: At the bottom of the sales board with Shelly.  Roma is often nice to Aaronow.  Moss wants to bring Aaronow in on a caper.  Why?  Neither sees Aaronow as a threat.  Aaronow is not particularly good at selling, and does not enjoy selling, either.  Life seems to “happen” to Aaronow more than Aaronow makes life. 

JAMES LINGK: The target for one of Roma’s sales.  We don’t know too much about Lingk, but we DO know that Lingk is married, and that Lingk’s spouse is the decision maker.  This helps us understand how Lingk becomes engrossed in the Roma pitch—Lingk feels more alpha than beta in the moment. 

BAYLEN: Police detective investigating the robbery from the night before. 

BLAKE*: A big-time, Mercedes-owning sales star sent by company bosses Mitch and Murray to light a fire under the sales team.
(Blake is a character, played by Alec Baldwin, who shows up in the opening scene of the film version of Glengarry.  It is a wonderful opening scene, but presents some set issues if incorporated.  In the play, Act 1 is the Chinese Restarant, and Act 2 is in the office.  Playing the opening scene from the screenplay, then, would require a large set change. 

SO, MY SOLUTION: The actor playing Blake will not be needed for performances.  We will shoot that scene within our office set, and—in my head, anyway (and Don Mahoney’s mind, too, which means more)—the play will open with a projected film of that scene.   To me, at least, it sounds like great fun.