Glengarry Glen Ross

Glengarry Glen Ross

W
ORKS BY
D
AVID
M
AMET

PUBLISHED BY G
ROVE
P
RESS

American Buffalo

The Cherry Orchard

(adapted from Anton Chekhov)

Five Television Plays

Glengarry Glen Ross

Goldberg Street:

Short Plays and Monologues

Homicide

House of Games: A Screenplay

A Life in the Theatre

Reunion
and
Dark Pony

Sexual Perversity in Chicago
and

The Duck Variations

The Shawl
and
Prairie du Chien

Speed-the-Plow

Things Change: A Screenplay

(with Shel Silverstein)

Three Children’s Plays

Warm and Cold

(with Donald Sultan)

We’re No Angels

The Woods, Lakeboat, Edmond

GLENGARRY

GLEN ROSS

A PLAY BY

David Mamet

Grove Press

New York

Copyright © 1982, 1983 by David Mamet

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Scanning, uploading, and electronic distribution of this book or the facilitation of such without the permission of the publisher is prohibited. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. Any member of educational institutions wishing to photocopy part or all of the work for classroom use, or anthology, should send inquiries to Grove/Atlantic, Inc., 154 West 14
^th
Street, New York, NY 10011 or
[email protected]
.

CAUTION: Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that
Glengarry Glen Ross
is subject to a royalty. It is fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and all British Commonwealth countries, and all countries covered by the International Copyright Union, the Pan-American Copyright Convention, and the Universal Copyright Convention. All rights, including professional, amateur, motion picture, recitation, public reading, radio broadcasting, television, video or sound taping, all other forms of mechanical or electronic reproduction, such as information storage and retrieval systems and photocopying, and rights of translation into foreign languages, are strictly reserved.

First-class professional, stock, and amateur applications for permission to perform it, and those other rights stated above, must be made in advance, before rehearsals begin, to the author’s agent: Howard Rosenstone, Rosenstone/Wender, 38 East 29th Street, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10016.

Published simultaneously in Canada

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Mamet, David.

Glengarry Glen Ross.

I. Title.

PS3563.A4345G56    1984    812’.54    83-49380

eISBN: 978-0-8021-9179-3

Grove Press

an imprint of Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

154 West 14
^th
Street

New York, NY 10011

Distributed by Publishers Group West

www.groveatlantic.com

14  15  16  17      32  31  30

This play is dedicated to

H
AROLD
P
INTER

Glengarry Glen Ross

Glengarry Glen Ross
was first presented at The Cottlesloe Theatre, London, England, on September 21, 1983 with the following cast:

The U.S. premiere of the play took place at The Goodman Theatre of the Arts Institute of Chicago in a Chicago Theatre Groups, Inc. production on February 6, 1984 with the following cast:

THE CHARACTERS

Williamson, Baylen, Roma, Lingk

Men in their early forties.

Levene, Moss, Aaronow

Men in their fifties.

THE SCENE

The three scenes of A
CT
O
NE
take place in a Chinese restaurant.

A
CT
T
WO
takes place in a real estate office.

ALWAYS BE CLOSING.

Practical Sales Maxim

ACT ONE

SCENE ONE

A booth at a Chinese restaurant,
Williamson
and
Levene
are seated at the booth.

Levene:
John . . . John . . . John. Okay. John. John. Look:
(Pause.)
The Glengarry Highland’s leads, you’re sending Roma out. Fine. He’s a good man. We know what he is. He’s fine. All I’m saying, you look at the
board,
he’s throwing . . . wait, wait, wait, he’s throwing them
away,
he’s throwing the leads away. All that I’m saying, that you’re wasting leads. I don’t want to tell you your
job.
All that I’m saying, things get
set,
I know they do, you get a certain
mindset
. . . . A guy gets a reputation. We know how this . . . all I’m saying, put a
closer
on the job. There’s more than one man for the . . . Put a . . . wait a second, put a
proven man out
. . . and you watch, now
wait
a second—and you watch your
dollar
volumes. . . . You start closing them for
fifty
‘stead of
twenty-five
. . . you put a
closer
on the . . .

Williamson:
Shelly, you blew the last . . .

Levene:
No. John. No. Let’s wait, let’s back up here, I did . . . will you please? Wait a second. Please. I didn’t “blow” them. No. I didn’t “blow” them. No. One kicked
out,
one I closed . . .

Williamson:
. . . you didn’t close . . .

Levene:
. . . I, if you’d
listen
to me. Please. I
closed
the cocksucker. His
ex,
John, his
ex, I
didn’t know he was married . . . he, the
judge
invalidated the . . .

Williamson:
Shelly . . .

Levene:
. . . and what is that, John? What? Bad
luck.
That’s all it is. I pray in your
life
you will never find it runs in streaks. That’s what it does, that’s all it’s doing. Streaks. I pray it misses you. That’s all I want to say.

Williamson
(Pause):
What about the other two?

Levene:
What two?

Williamson:
Four. You had four leads. One kicked out, one the
judge,
you say . . .

Levene:
. . . you want to see the court records? John? Eh? You want to go down . . .

Williamson:
. . . no . . .

Levene:
. . . do you want to go down
town .
. .
?

Williamson:
. . . no . . .

Levene:
. . . then . . .

Williamson:
. . . I only . . .

Levene:
. . . then what is this “you
say
” shit, what is that?
(Pause.)
What is that . . . ?

Williamson:
All that I’m saying . . .

Levene:
What is this “you
say
"? A deal kicks out . . . I got to
eat. Shit,
Williamson,
shit.
You . . . Moss . . . Roma . . . look at the
sheets
. . . look at the
sheets.
Nineteen
eighty,
eighty-
one
. . . eighty-
two
. . . six months of eighty-two . . . who’s there? Who’s up there?

Williamson:
Roma.

Levene:
Under him?

Williamson:
Moss.

Levene:
Bullshit. John. Bull
shit.
April, September 1981. It’s
me.
It isn’t
fucking
Moss. Due respect, he’s an
order
taker, John. He
talks,
he talks a good game, look at the
board,
and it’s
me,
John, it’s me . . .

Williamson:
Not lately it isn’t.

Levene:
Lately kiss my ass lately. That isn’t how you build an org . . . talk, talk to Murray. Talk to
Mitch. When we were on Peterson, who paid for his fucking
car
? You talk to him. The
Seville
. . . ? He came in, “You bought that for me Shelly.” Out of
what
? Cold
calling. Nothing
. Sixty-
five,
when we were there, with Glen
Ross
Farms? You call ‘em downtown. What was that?
Luck
? That was “luck"?
Bull
shit, John. You’re burning my ass, I can’t get a fucking
lead
. . . you think that was luck. My stats for those years? Bull
shit
. . . over that period of time . . . ? Bull
shit.
It wasn’t luck. It was
skill.
You want to throw that away, John . . . ? You want to throw that away?

Williamson:
It isn’t me . . .

Levene:
. . . it isn’t you . . . ? Who
is
it? Who is this I’m talking to? I need the
leads
. . .

Williamson:
. . . after the thirtieth . . .

Levene:
Bull
shit
the thirtieth, I don’t get on the board the thirtieth, they’re going to can my ass. I need the leads. I need them now. Or I’m gone, and you’re going to miss me, John, I swear to you.

Williamson:
Murray . . .

Levene:
. . . you
talk
to Murray . . .

Williamson:
I have. And my job is to marshal those leads . . .

Levene:
Marshal the leads . . . marshal the leads? What the fuck, what bus did
you
get off of, we’re here to fucking
sell. Fuck
marshaling the leads. What the fuck talk is that? What the fuck talk is that? Where did you learn that? In school?
(Pause.)
That’s “talk,” my friend, that’s “talk.” Our job is to
sell.
I’m the
man
to sell. I’m getting garbage.
(Pause.)
You’re giving it to me, and what I’m saying is it’s
fucked.

Williamson:
You’re saying that I’m fucked.

Levene:
Yes.
(Pause.)
I am. I’m sorry to antagonize you.

Williamson:
Let me . . .

Levene:
. . . and I’m going to get bounced and you’re . . .

Williamson:
. . . let me . . . are you listening to me . . . ?

Levene:
Yes.

Williamson:
Let me tell you something, Shelly. I do what I’m hired to do. I’m . . . wait a second. I’m
hired
to watch the leads. I’m given . . . hold on, I’m given a
policy. My
job is to
do that.
What I’m
told.
That’s it. You, wait a second,
anybody
falls below a certain mark I’m not
permitted
to give them the premium leads.

Levene:
Then how do they come up above that mark? With
dreck
. . . ? That’s
nonsense.
Explain this to me. ‘Cause it’s a waste, and it’s a stupid waste. I want to tell you something . . .

Williamson:
You know what those leads cost?

Levene:
The premium leads. Yes. I know what they cost. John. Because I,
I
generated the dollar revenue sufficient to
buy
them. Nineteen senny-
nine
, you know what I made? Senny-
nine
? Ninety-six thousand dollars. John? For
Murray
. . . For
Mitch
. . . look at the sheets . . .

Williamson:
Murray said . . .

Levene:
Fuck
him.
Fuck
Murray. John? You know? You tell him I said so. What does
he
fucking know? He’s going to have a “sales” contest . . . you know what our sales contest used to be?
Money.
A
fortune.
Money lying on the ground. Murray? When was the last time
he
went out on a sit? Sales contest? It’s
laughable.
It’s cold out there now, John. It’s tight. Money is
tight.
This ain’t sixty-five. It ain’t. It just ain’t. See? See? Now, I’m a good
man
—but I need a . . .

Williamson:
Murray said . . .

Levene:
John. John . . .

Williamson:
Will you please wait a second. Shelly. Please. Murray told me: the hot leads . . .

Levene:
. . . ah,
fuck
this . . .

Williamson:
The . . . Shelly?
(Pause.)
The hot leads are assigned according to the board. During the contest.
Period.
Anyone who beats fifty per . . .

Levene:
That’s fucked. That’s fucked. You don’t look at the fucking
percentage.
You look at the
gross.

Williamson:
Either way. You’re out.

Levene:
I’m out.

Williamson:
Yes.

Levene:
I’ll tell you why I’m out. I’m
out,
you’re giving me toilet paper. John. I’ve
seen
those leads. I saw them when I was at Homestead, we pitched those cocksuckers Rio Rancho nineteen sixty-
nine
they wouldn’t buy. They couldn’t buy a fucking
toaster.
They’re
broke,
John. They’re cold. They’re deadbeats, you can’t judge on that. Even so. Even so. Alright. Fine. Fine. Even so. I go in, FOUR FUCKING LEADS they got their money in a
sock.
They’re fucking
Polacks,
John. Four leads. I close two.
Two.
Fifty per . . .

Williamson:
. . . they kicked out.

Levene:
They
all
kick out. You run in
streaks,
pal.
Streaks.
I’m . . . I’m . . . don’t look at the
board,
look at
me.
Shelly Levene.
Anyone. Ask
them on Western. Ask Getz at Homestead. Go ask Jerry Graff. You know who I am . . . I NEED A SHOT. I got to get on the fucking board. Ask them.
Ask
them. Ask them who ever picked up a check I was flush. Moss, Jerry Graff, Mitch himself . . . Those guys
lived
on the business I brought in. They
lived
on it . . . and so did Murray, John. You were here you’d of benefited from it too. And now I’m saying this. Do I want charity? Do I want
pity
? I want
sits.
I want leads don’t come right out of a
phone book.
Give me a lead hotter than that, I’ll go in and close it. Give me a chance. That’s all I want. I’m going to
get
up on that fucking board and all I want is a chance. It’s a
streak
and I’m going to turn it around.
(Pause.)
I need your help.
(Pause.)

Williamson:
I can’t do it, Shelly.
(Pause.)

Levene:
Why?

Williamson:
The leads are assigned randomly . . .

Levene:
Bullshit, bullshit,
you assign them . . . . What are you
telling
me?

Williamson:
. . . apart from the top men on the contest board.

Levene:
Then put me on the board.

Williamson:
You start closing again, you’ll
be
on the board.

Levene:
I can’t close these leads, John. No one can. It’s a joke. John, look, just give me a hot lead. Just give me two of the premium leads. As a “test,” alright? As a “test” and I promise you . . .

Williamson:
I can’t do it, Shel.
(Pause.)

Levene:
I’ll give you ten percent.
(Pause.)

Williamson:
Of what?

Levene:
Of my end what I close.

Williamson:
And what if you don’t close.

Levene:
I
will
close.

Williamson:
What if you
don’t
close . . . ?

Levene:
I
will
close.

Williamson:
What if you
don’t
? Then I’m
fucked.
You see . . . ? Then it’s
my
job. That’s what I’m
telling
you.

Levene:
I
will
close. John, John, ten percent. I can get hot. You
know
that . . .

Williamson:
Not lately you can’t . . .

Levene:
Fuck that. That’s defeatist. Fuck that. Fuck it. . . . Get on my side.
Go
with me. Let’s
do
something. You want to run this office,
run
it.

Williamson:
Twenty percent.
(Pause.)

Levene:
Alright.

Williamson:
And fifty bucks a lead.

Levene:
John.
(Pause.)
Listen. I want to talk to you. Permit me to do this a second. I’m older than you. A man acquires a reputation. On the street. What he does when he’s
up,
what he does otherwise. . . . I said “ten,” you said “no.” You said “twenty.” I said “fine,” I’m not going to fuck with you, how can I beat that, you tell me? . . . Okay. Okay. We’ll . . . Okay. Fine. We’ll . . . Alright, twenty percent, and fifty bucks a lead. That’s fine. For now. That’s fine. A month or two we’ll talk. A month from now. Next month. After the thirtieth.
(Pause.)
We’ll talk.