David Mamet’s odd if intriguing two-hander from 1977 is probably one of his lesser-known plays for good reason. The Woods features a young couple arguing out their differences at a remote cabin. This “battle of the sexes” drama is of its own time and place, too generic to be provocative now, but Russell Bolam’s revival offers a meditation on how far sexual politics have progressed.
The relationship unravels over the course of a single night, ending in – typically for Mamet – a violent confrontation. Ruth (Francesca Carpanini) and Nick (Sam Frenchum) look like a wholesome 1970s American couple in jeans and plaid shirts. They speak, often in coded ways, about their fears and desires around love. She is initially grating with a plainly stated yearning for commitment; he is a picture of coiled masculinity, cornered by her heavy hints of a shared future together.
