{"id":3452,"date":"2021-08-10T16:27:34","date_gmt":"2021-08-10T14:27:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neatstuttgart.com\/?p=3452"},"modified":"2026-04-12T13:59:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T11:59:47","slug":"the-duck-variations-by-david-mamet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neatstuttgart.com\/?p=3452","title":{"rendered":"THE DUCK VARIATIONS by David Mamet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Directed by Charles C. Urban<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photos by Uka Meissner deRuiz<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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QUACK WISDOM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written in 1972, THE DUCK VARIATIONS <\/em><\/strong>is a play by the American playwright David Mamet which focuses on two old men who first randomly \u2013 then regularly – meet on a park bench and slowly develop a somewhat odd and begrudgingly acknowledged, reluctant \u201cfriendship\u201d.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the two strangers fumble for topics to speak about, they somehow always end up reverting to the ducks that they observe swimming around on the lake and their awkward daily sessions entail philosophizing about the world in general and ducks in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crazy-smart talk of these misguided conversations, discussions and arguments cover some strange territory; human nature, <\/em>sex, friendship, love, <\/em>and mortalit<\/em>y using the metaphor of the ducks to express their fears about aging and death. Ironically, they know absolutely nothing<\/em> whatsoever about ducks. If they did, it would not improve their beautiful fugue on the theme of the possibility of happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two men use what life experience has taught them, incorporating scattered, mostly incorrect ideas to make assumptions; while assuring<\/em> the other that these unqualified guesses are established fact. Through their daily debates (and occasional agreements<\/em>) a composite view of ducks and by extension, the world<\/em>, begins to emerge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The situation in THE DUCK VARIATIONS<\/em><\/strong> reminds one of the philosophical dialogues between Estragon & Vladimir in Samuel Beckett\u2019s WAITING FOR GODOT<\/em><\/strong> or Jerry & Peter in Edward Albee\u2019s THE ZOO STORY<\/em><\/strong>. All three of these plays may be viewed as \u201cextended Vaudeville sketches\u201d<\/em> with Laurel & Hardy like protagonists; one ends in pseudo philosophic wisdom, one ends tragic, one never ends at all\u2026 waiting, waiting, waiting\u2026  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

George and Emil, in THE DUCK VARIATIONS<\/em><\/strong>, clumsily, yet poignantly, attempt to forge a link with nature \u2013 \u201cour window to the world\u201d<\/em> \u2013 specifically with ducks. Pompous tall talking George displays the confidence of ignorance and brims with half-baked misinformation, wishful thinking and stubborn pontification. He is an opinionated big talker who needs a small listener \u2013 Emil; who is the more poetic of the two and compares their plight with their ancient Greek counterparts; \u201cIncapable of working, of no use to society, who used to watch the birds all day.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is something quite glorious about the reluctant friendship of George and Emil – their fumbling, rumbling, stumbling, mumbling <\/em>creates a clumsy prayer for our planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Emil proclaims \u201cthe natural need for companionship\u201d<\/em>, George informs him that \u201ca cactus is able to live alone quite nicely<\/em>.\u201d Not one to give in easily, Emil counters with \u201cI don\u2019t want to hear it. If it\u2019s false, don\u2019t waste my time and if it is true I don\u2019t want to know.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In cooperation with:<\/strong> New English American Theatre<\/a>, Staatministerin f\u00fcr Kultur und Medien<\/a>, Kulturverein Merlin e.V.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PERFORMANCE –<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE DUCK VARIATIONS <\/em><\/strong>by David Mamet<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monday, September 13 <\/strong>at 20:00 <\/strong>hrs in MERLIN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tickets <\/strong>– https:\/\/merlinstuttgart.reservix.de\/tickets-dark-monday-duck-variations-by-david-mamet-in-stuttgart-kulturzentrum-merlin-am-13-9-2021\/e1692184<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photos by Uka Meissner deRuiz<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Directed by Charles C. Urban Photos by Uka Meissner deRuiz QUACK WISDOM Written…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99576481,"featured_media":3489,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[103],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wow","fadeIn"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6E99v-TG","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/neatstuttgart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/duck-cartoon-set-vector.webp?fit=1960%2C980&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neatstuttgart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neatstuttgart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neatstuttgart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neatstuttgart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/99576481"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neatstuttgart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3452"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/neatstuttgart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8972,"href":"https:\/\/neatstuttgart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3452\/revisions\/8972"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neatstuttgart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neatstuttgart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neatstuttgart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neatstuttgart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}