David Mamet's A Life in the Theatre is Bound for Broadway in Fall 2010

A Life in the Theatre, David Mamet’s 1977 play about the relationship between two actors, will make its Broadway debut this fall. Neil Pepe, who recently staged Mamet’s Speed-the-Plow on Broadway, will direct the new production. No casting has been announced at this time, but producers promise “two major artists” in the two-hander.

A Life in the Theatre debuted at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre in February 1977, starring Joe Mantegna and Mike Nussbaum and directed by Gregory Mosher (currently represented on Broadway by A View from the Bridge). Later that year, Gerald Gutierrez directed Peter Evans and Ellis Rabb in the New York premiere of the show, which ran for 288 performances at the Lucille Lortel Theatre off-Broadway.

The play, which was inspired by Mamet’s early career as an actor, focuses on two performers: the seasoned, older Robert and newcomer John. Though Robert’s guidance is welcomed at first by John, as the play progresses Robert falters as an actor and mentor, and John emerges as a mature actor.

In 1993, a TV-movie version of A Life in the Theatre premiered, starring Jack Lemmon and Matthew Broderick. F. Murray Abraham and Anthony Fusco headlined the last New York production of the drama, which played the Jewish Repertory Theatre in 1992. A 2005 London production starred Patrick Stewart and Joshua Jackson.

A Life in the Theatre will be produced on Broadway by Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel and Steve Traxler, the lead producers of Mamet’s Race and Speed-the-Plow.