Who is every kid's favorite author? If you answered David Mamet, you are probably alone. Nonetheless, the hard-bitten and profanity-prone playwright does have a few tot-friendly pieces up his sleeve. Two of them will be part of the Atlantic Theatre Company's "Mamet for Kids" series. The troupe has devoted is entire 1999-2000 season to Mamet, who co founded the company.
The more familiar of the two plays is The Frog Prince, which will play Feb. 5 at 10 AM, Feb. 12 at 11: 30 AM, March 25 at 10 AM and March 27 at 7 PM. The modern retelling of the Grimm fairy tale will star Brain Brooks, Melissa Collins, Casey Smith and Simon Suh. Todd Weeks directs.
The second half of the series is The Poet and the Rent, an unusual bit of physical comic writing from Mamet. In the piece, a poor young poet struggles to pay his rent and gets some jail time and a few pies in the face along the way. An eight-person cast is directed by Amanda Charlton. Performances are Feb. 6 at 10 AM, Feb. 12 at 10 AM, March 26 at 10 AM and March 27 at 9 PM.
The Atlantic has currently been offering Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Mamet's early success about the rules of attraction, circa mid-'70s, and The Duck Variations, a one-act about the observations of two old men sitting on a park bench, on its main stage. The production closes Feb. 6.
--By Robert Simonson
