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Romance is a play by David Mamet. It opened in 2005 off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theater in New York and was also performed at London's Almeida Theatre, starring John Mahoney, later that year. A fast-paced, madcap comedy-farce, the main action of the play occurs in a courtroom presided over by a judge (Larry Bryggman in the original cast) whose allergy medications make him, in the first act, so drowsy he repeatedly falls asleep, and in the second act so manic he eventually ends up stripping in the middle of the court. Meanwhile, the prosecutor has to deal with his flamboyant and often difficult-to-control boyfriend Bernard (Keith Nobbs). The gentile defense attorney is swapping racial slurs with his Jewish client, who suddenly comes up with a brilliant idea to solve all the problems in the Middle East. The question is, can he cut through all the courtroom drama in time to make the plan work?
In 2008, the Manitoba Black Hole Theatre added a groundbreaking role, a silent female court report (Jessica Hamulka). The addition to the all male cast allowed the audience's shocked reactions of the play's content to be brought on to the stage and into the court room. Introducing the court reporter also allowed the heavily medicated judge to refer to the stenograph when he lost his train of thought. And when he needed to brag about his ability to have sex whenever he wanted, she was right there for a warm-hearted 'good for you' smile, followed by a disgusted shiver. Her breaking point came when Bernard, with whom she had sympathise because of his situation, reveals his affair and his mother-in-law's involvement. She lets out a loud scream of frustration at everything she had witnessed that day and leaves, taking her stenograph with her.
