R.A.A.A.M. stages Mamet play exploring theatre’s generational shift

Theatre company R.A.A.A.M. is staging American playwright David Mamet’s “A Life in the Theatre,” which reveals the backstage world to audiences, ERR reports.

The production follows two actors, one older and experienced and the other young and ambitious. They share a dressing room, rehearse together and exchange experiences, while their roles shift. The staging shows how actors prepare, perform and return to the dressing room after taking their bows.

“These changes are sometimes tragic, sometimes funny. I hope the full range of emotions comes through in our production,” director Tiit Alte said.

Actors Pääru Oja and Jarmo Reha will appear before an audience together for the first time in the production. Oja said the play explores how older generations teach younger ones, and how younger people eventually move ahead of them.

Alte and the actors described Mamet’s play as one of the world’s best. Alte said they wanted to speak honestly about theatre without doing it a disservice. Reha said the cast knew the world the play portrays and was “completely in our element.”

“A Life in the Theatre” will premiere on Saturday at Salme Cultural Centre in Tallinn and on Sunday at Narva Vaba Lava.