Goldberg Street
Authors: David Mamet
Goldberg Street
WORKS BY DAVID MAMET PUBLISHED BY GROVE PRESS
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
Goldberg Street
Short Plays and Monologues
by
David Mamet
Copyright © 1985 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, 154 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10011 or
[email protected]
.
CAUTION
: Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that all the short plays and monologues in
Goldberg Street
are 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: Ronald Gwiazda, Abrams Artists Agency, 275 Seventh Avenue, 26
th
floor, New York, NY 10001.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mamet, David.
Goldberg street.
I. Title.
PS3563.A4345A6 1985 812’.54 84-73210
eISBN: 978-0-8021-9144-1
Goldberg Street
© 1985 by David Mamet;
Cross Patch
© 1984 by David Mamet;
Two Conversations
© 1982 by David Mamet;
Two Scenes
© 1982 by David Mamet;
Yes But So What
© 1982 by David Mamet;
Conversations with the Spirit World Steve
© 1982 by David Mamet;
Pint’s a Pound the World Around
© 1983 by David Mamet
; Dowsing
© 1983 by David Mamet;
Deer Dogs
© 1982 by David Mamet
; In the Mall
© 1983 by David Mamet;
Maple Sugaring
© 1981 by David Mamet;
Morris and Joe
© 1981 by David Mamet;
The Dog
© 1979 by David Mamet;
Film Crew
© 1979 by David Mamet;
Four A.M.
© 1983 by David Mamet;
The Power Outage
© 1977 by David Mamet;
Food
© 1982 by David Mamet;
Columbus Avenue
© 1980 by David Mamet;
Steve McQueen
© 1983 by David Mamet;
Yes
© 1983 by David Mamet;
The Blue Hour: City Sketches
© 1981 by David Mamet;
A Sermon
© 1981 by David Mamet;
Shoeshine
© 1979;
Litko: A Dramatic Monologue
© 1981 by David Mamet;
In Old Vermont
© 1981 by David Mamet;
All Men Are Whores: An Inquiry
© 1981 by David Mamet
Cover design by John Gall
Cover photograph by Brigitte Lacombe
Grove Press an imprint of Grove Atlantic, 154 West 14th Street, 12
th
floor, New York, NY 10011
Distributed by Publishers Group West
Contents
Introduction:
Suitable for Framing
Conversations with the Spirit World
INTRODUCTION:
Suitable for Framing
Tradition has it that Shakespeare finished
King Lear
and handed it to Richard Burbage saying: “You son-of-a-gun, I've finally written one you can't perform.”
I would like to say these pieces were done as experiments in form, rhythm, and sound; but in truth they were written as emotional meal tickets which would allow me to get through a day not consecrated to some major (longer) project and still think of myself as a writer.
The bad news is that I feel that some of these three-and ten-minute plays are the best writing I have ever done, and what in the world are they good for?
So I thank you for your interest in this collection.
I hope the pieces are fun to read and to perform—they were all fun to write.
David Mamet
Goldberg Street
Goldberg Street
and
Cross Patch
were first presented live on WNUR Radio in Chicago on March 4, 1985, with the following cast directed by David Mamet:
Goldberg Street | Cross Patch |
Mike Nussbaum | W. H. Macy |
Susan Nussbaum | Mike Nussbaum Peter Riegert Colin Stinton |
A
man and his daughter talking.
Man:
Goldberg Street. Because they didn't
have
it.
They had
Smith
Street—they had
Rybka
Street.
There was no Goldberg Street.
You can keep your distance and it's fine.
If a man is secluded then he feels superior. Or rage. But where's the good in that?
Daughter:
There is no good in it.
Man:
I'm not sure. And I'm not so sure. But sometimes . . . (
Pause.
)
And sometimes, also—you must stand up for yourself. Because it is uncertain . . . what we're doing here.
And masses of
people
do now this and now that; and
at the moment
you might say “this seems wrong,” or “this seems attractive.”
Popular delusions warp . . . you cannot say they are the product of one man.
Some men like hunting. I enjoy it myself.
Some men like to kill.
Many have killed. Many would say this is not a bad thing.
But they know it is.
Which is not to say they have not enjoyed it.
. . . . .
Man:
A man would
wish
. . . (
Pause
.)
A man would wish someone to inform him . . .
I, if I man say, this is a good example—I am not mechanical but if something is broken and I
must
fix it there comes a point at which pride
in myself—
for the alternative is to say that I am not a man, or that I am an impotent or
stupid
. . . or, in some way unable to do those things many have done . . .
At one point I would say: “It now is mine to fix it.”
When it's up to
me
—if there is no one there. . . then I
will
fix it—for it isn't hidden.
So with problems . . . those things where one
cannot
refer to someone.
At some point. One must say:
I
am the . . .
Daughter:
. . . the authority.
Man:
. . . the,
loneliness
that that entails, of course . . . and who would be so droll as to form a religion on ethical principles? (
Pause.
)
And one is alone.
And
so
one is . . .
And so what.
From
that
one may say “well, then I can proceed . . . ”
Lost in the wood you must say “I am lost.”
Daughter:
You killed the deer.
Man:
The man in
Bregny . . .
(
Pause.
)
Men hunted them with automatic weapons.
Which is not a sporting way and it is not an effective way.
Because you can't
aim
them, truly . . .
Daughter:
. . . because they jump.
Man:
They
do
jump. And . . . you can aim the first shot, of course . . . .
But we were taught to fire them from the hip. Held on the sling to give it tension.
And they
hunted
them, and, as you couldn't aim your shot, the animal, hit badly . . .
Ran.
Died.
Left a blood trail, but they couldn't follow it.
Or wouldn't.
Although they were country boys.
And, I'm sure . . . revered life.
Loved hunting . . .
. . . anyway
(
Pause
.)
They couldn't read a compass.
In Arkansas one time we were lost. The leader asked if anyone could read a compass. We'd all heard the lecture. I said, well, I'd never
held
one, but I heard it, I supposed I . . . took it. Read it. Followed the map.
Led us back to camp. It was easy enough. None of it was difficult.
And they put me in for the Unit. When they asked for volunteers.
Which may have been a joke. It was a joke. For anti-Semitism in the army. Then. Even now . . . (
Pause.
)
Even for, and especially then which I see as . . .
If you look at the world you have to laugh. They scorned me, as I assume they did, for those skills they desired to possess. And it was funny I had them.
To them. Lost in the woods. It seems simple enough. If you just take away the thought someone's coming to help you. (
Pause.
)
Daughter:
You never see them?
Man:
No, although we were close. In a way. Over there. Where would we . . .
I have no desire to go down south. (
Pause.
) To go visiting at all.
Daughter:
You went to France.
Man:
I did. It was the Anniversary. I wanted to see.
Daughter:
What did you see? (
Pause.
)
Man:
People. (
Pause.
) I saw the town.
Daughter:
Had it changed?
Man:
No. It hadn't changed. Just as the world has changed. (
Pause.
)
Daughter:
I heard they saw you.
Man:
Yes. They saw me. There's always someone there.
Laying flowers—it's right by the cliff. I mean the cliff is right beside the road. They . . . (
Pause.
)
Daughter:
They knew you.
Man:
I was . . . no, they didn't know me, They saw someone standing . . . (
Pause.
)
A man spoke English. He went in the pub. He must have said, he said something like “one of them's come back.” And, in the cemetery . . . they came over there.
Daughter:
You were reading the stones?
Man:
They're crosses, really . . . (
Pause.
) Yes. I was looking for the names.
Daughter:
Did you find them?
Man:
I thought that I would not remember them. I . . . but I . . . (
Pause.
)
People from the pub came out. (
Pause.
) They said, “You were here.”
Yes. We wept.
Patton slapped that Jewish boy.
They said . . . (
Pause.
)
Daughter:
They remembered you. (
Pause.
) They remembered what you'd done.
Man:
They sent me for a joke. Because I read the compass. I was glad to go. I knew they thought me ludicrous. Our shame is that we feel they're right. (
Pause.
) I . . . have no desire to go to Israel. (
Pause.
) But I went to France.