Mamet - Glengarry Glen Ross : a play

Glengarry Glen Ross W ORKS BY D AVID M AMET PUBLISHED BY G ROVE P RESS American Buffalo The Cherry Orchard (adapted from Anton Chekhov) Five Television Plays Glengarry Glen Ross Goldberg Street: Short Plays and Monologues Homicide House of Games: A Screenplay A Life in the Theatre Reunion and Dark Pony Sexual Perversity in Chicago and The Duck Variations The Shawl and Prairie du Chien Speed-the-Plow Things Change: A Screenplay (with Shel Silverstein) Three Childrens Plays Warm and Cold (with Donald Sultan) Were No Angels The Woods, Lakeboat, Edmond GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS A PLAY BY David Mamet Grove Press New York Copyright 1982, 1983 by David Mamet All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Scanning, uploading, and electronic distribution of this book or the facilitation of such without the permission of the publisher is prohibited. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the authors rights is appreciated. Any member of educational institutions wishing to photocopy part or all of the work for classroom use, or anthology, should send inquiries to Grove/Atlantic, Inc., 154 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10011 or .

CAUTION: Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that Glengarry Glen Ross is subject to a royalty. It is fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and all British Commonwealth countries, and all countries covered by the International Copyright Union, the Pan-American Copyright Convention, and the Universal Copyright Convention. All rights, including professional, amateur, motion picture, recitation, public reading, radio broadcasting, television, video or sound taping, all other forms of mechanical or electronic reproduction, such as information storage and retrieval systems and photocopying, and rights of translation into foreign languages, are strictly reserved. First-class professional, stock, and amateur applications for permission to perform it, and those other rights stated above, must be made in advance, before rehearsals begin, to the authors agent: Howard Rosenstone, Rosenstone/Wender, 38 East 29th Street, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10016. Published simultaneously in Canada Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mamet, David. I. Title. Title.

PS3563.A4345G56 1984 812.54 83-49380 eISBN: 978-0-8021-9179-3 Grove Press an imprint of Grove/Atlantic, Inc. 154 West 14th Street New York, NY 10011 Distributed by Publishers Group West www.groveatlantic.com 14 15 16 17 32 31 30 This play is dedicated to H AROLD P INTER Glengarry Glen Ross Glengarry Glen Ross was first presented at The Cottlesloe Theatre, London, England, on September 21, 1983 with the following cast:

The U.S. premiere of the play took place at The Goodman Theatre of the Arts Institute of Chicago in a Chicago Theatre Groups, Inc. production on February 6, 1984 with the following cast: THE CHARACTERS Williamson, Baylen, Roma, Lingk Men in their early forties. Levene, Moss, Aaronow Men in their fifties. THE SCENE The three scenes of A CT O NE take place in a Chinese restaurant. A CT T WO takes place in a real estate office. ALWAYS BE CLOSING. Practical Sales Maxim ACT ONE SCENE ONE A booth at a Chinese restaurant, Williamson and Levene are seated at the booth.

Levene: John... John... John. Okay. John. John.

Look: (Pause.) The Glengarry Highlands leads, youre sending Roma out. Fine. Hes a good man. We know what he is. Hes fine. wait, wait, wait, hes throwing them away, hes throwing the leads away. wait, wait, wait, hes throwing them away, hes throwing the leads away.

All that Im saying, that youre wasting leads. I dont want to tell you your job. All that Im saying, things get set, I know they do, you get a certain mindset.... A guy gets a reputation. We know how this... all Im saying, put a closer on the job.

Theres more than one man for the... Put a... wait a second, put a proven man out ... and you watch, now wait a secondand you watch your dollar volumes.... You start closing them for fifty stead of twenty-five ... you put a closer on the...

Williamson: Shelly, you blew the last... Levene: No. John. No. Lets wait, lets back up here, I did... Please. Please.

I didnt blow them. No. I didnt blow them. No. One kicked out, one I closed... you didnt close... you didnt close...

Levene: ... I, if youd listen to me. Please. I closed the cocksucker. His ex, John, his ex, I didnt know he was married... he, the judge invalidated the...

Williamson: Shelly... Levene: ... and what is that, John? What? Bad luck. Thats all it is. I pray in your life you will never find it runs in streaks. Streaks. Streaks.

I pray it misses you. Thats all I want to say. Williamson (Pause): What about the other two? Levene: What two? Williamson: Four. You had four leads. One kicked out, one the judge, you say... you want to see the court records? John? Eh? You want to go down... you want to see the court records? John? Eh? You want to go down...

Williamson: ... no... Levene: ... do you want to go down town . .. no... no...

Levene: ... then... Williamson: ... I only... Levene: ... ? Williamson: All that Im saying... ? Williamson: All that Im saying...

Levene: What is this you say "? A deal kicks out... I got to eat. Shit, Williamson, shit. You... Moss... look at the sheets ... look at the sheets. look at the sheets.

Nineteen eighty, eighty- one ... eighty- two ... six months of eighty-two... whos there? Whos up there? Williamson: Roma. Levene: Under him? Williamson: Moss. John. Bull shit. Bull shit.

April, September 1981. Its me. It isnt fucking Moss. Due respect, hes an order taker, John. He talks, he talks a good game, look at the board, and its me, John, its me... Williamson: Not lately it isnt.

Levene: Lately kiss my ass lately. That isnt how you build an org... talk, talk to Murray. Talk to Mitch. When we were on Peterson, who paid for his fucking car ? You talk to him. ? He came in, You bought that for me Shelly. ? He came in, You bought that for me Shelly.

Out of what ? Cold calling. Nothing . Sixty- five, when we were there, with Glen Ross Farms? You call em downtown. What was that? Luck ? That was luck"? Bull shit, John. Youre burning my ass, I cant get a fucking lead ... you think that was luck.

My stats for those years? Bull shit ... over that period of time... ? Bull shit. It wasnt luck. It was skill. ? You want to throw that away? Williamson: It isnt me... ? You want to throw that away? Williamson: It isnt me...

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