Camden Theatre Opens Fourteenth Season With Two Comic One Acts

Artistic Director, Raymond Croce, proudly presents two comic one-acts together as the fourteenth season opener. The first one-act was written by David Mamet and the other by Harold Pinter. Both playwrights guide us through their stories in very unique ways.

In Mamet's play we are introduced to two men in their sixties discussing the ways of ducks and life in The Duck Variations. We quickly learn that people who talk the most with authority about something are the ones who know the least about the subject. This show is told in 14 different, hilarious variations with Mamet's excellent dialogue. David Mamet is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, screenwriter and director known for such works as American Buffalo, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Untouchables and Phil Spector. He was born on November 30, 1947, in Chicago, Illinois. He later founded the St. Nicholas Theatre Co. and won wide notice with productions that included Sexual Perversity in Chicago and American Buffalo. Later, his 1984 work Glengarry Glen Ross was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Mamet later became known for rapid-fire dialogue studded with obscenities and explorations of power relationships and corporate corruption. His screenplays include The Verdict and The Untouchables, and he's both written and directed projects such as The Spanish Prisoner, Redbelt and Phil Spector.

Harold Pinter's one-act play takes us to a claustrophobic basement where two hit men are waiting for their next "assignment" to be revealed. The Dumb Waiter is the very essence of Pinter who has tapped into our desire to seek meaning, confront injustice and assert our own individuality into life. Pinter has a way of not only creating characters but also using their interactions and phrasing to create the actual emotion we feel. Harold Pinter was born in London in 1930. He lived with Antonia Fraser from 1975 until his death on December 24, 2008. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the Central School of Speech and Drama, he worked as an actor under the stage name of Davide Daron. Following his success as a playwright, he continued to act under his own name on stage and screen. He last acted in 2006. He wrote twenty-nine plays. He also directed twenty-seven theatre productions throughout his life. He wrote twenty-one screenplays. In 2005 he received the Nobel Prize for Literature. Pinter was awarded many lifetime achievement honors including the Laurence Olivier Award along with 18 honorary degrees.

Board Chairman Robert Bingaman sees the many changes happening in Camden and believes the arts are growing stronger each day here. He is proud that South Camden Theatre Company is the cornerstone of the resurgence of the arts in Camden City. The Waterfront South Theatre, the company's home, is one of the first free-standing theaters built in Camden in Camden in more than 100 years. The theatre building opened in September of 2010.

All seating is general admission and is first-come, first-seated. Doors open one hour before curtain. Each show has Friday and Saturday night performances at 8:00pm with Sunday matinées at 2:00pm.

The Waterfront South Theatre is a completely accessible facility. Concessions are available prior to each show and at intermission.

Visit the South Camden Theatre Company website at www.southcamdentheatre.org to learn more