I'm now halfway through the first collection of Mamet's plays, and once again I find that while being varied in subject material, his approach to conversation and obsession with mundane stories and misogynist characters is a common thread. For once, we have a woman on stage who isn't actively a love interest of either of the men involved (though, not for want of trying on her part, and there's a strongly implied history with one of them), has creative talent and aspirations and... doesn't actually have a name. This vibrant, chatty, outgoing woman with a flair for writing, is only ever known as "The Cleaning Lady". Most of her lines (which are substantial) are spoken more at the men than to them, and most of her scenes could leave out what little nodding-along she gets in response and work perfectly well as monologues. It's something at least that she's there and as fleshed-out as a character as the others (perhaps even more so), but I can't help feeling like in the context of the way she's treated that the takeaway message is "and don't we hate it when they just go on and on like that". I'll admit, I've formed a pretty strong opinion of this particular playwrite, and perhaps I should give the benefit of the doubt here. The character is well-written, though not well-treated nor apparently entirely phased or surprised by that fact.
This time, the snapshot is of a series of freewriting sessions between an older author and his younger apprentice. The Cleaning Lady appears to be at the very least a previous collaborator with the older man on writing projects, with a certain subtext that there was more to that relationship than writing. She also attempts to ask both men, on at least two occasions, if they want sex.
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