Oleanna
Written By: David Mamet

Director: Sarah Van Tassel

Venue: Stage 9, Telephone Museum

Company: Guts & Guile Productions

Edmonton International Fringe Festival from August 14-24th

Reviewed by: Xanthe Couture (Edmonton Correspondent - Canada)

Written by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright David Mamet, Oleanna was a must-see play at this year's Edmonton International Fringe Festival. As the issues that surface between the very basic interaction of a college professor (Cody Porter) and his failing student (Alison Leggatt) lead to some very interesting ethical questions about the student teacher relationship and the education system.
   
What signifies sexual harassment, and when can power ever be a good thing and not used abusively, and what is the point of university if not to drill in social norms of what is deemed intellectual thought?

If anything, Oleanna could be required viewing for anyone entering the teaching profession.  As anyone who has been through any educational institution knows, it is so simple for one on one student teacher situations to be misrepresented. The reputation of a teacher can be easily warped by the context of a situation and the rumours that proceed.