BOSTON Marriage, a dark comedy by renowned playwright David Mamet, is now onstage at the Daylesford Theatre.

A two-act play, it is being performed by the Bermuda Musical & Dramatic Society (BMDS).

The production focuses on two women who live together, presumably involved in a romantic relationship, and their Scottish maid. Jo Shane plays Anna while Jeanne Butterfield plays Claire.

The role of the maid is played by Deborah Pharoah. A veteran actor, she has performed in her native Canada as well as with many of the local theatre groups here. She has also received acclaim as a playwright, winning the annual Famous for 15 Minutes competition for the short work she submitted.

"It's often hard to find good roles for women," she said, in explaining what led her to consider the role. "I'd worked with Barbara Jones, the director, before and so I knew what I was getting into in that respect. And this particular play by Mamet is well-known. The language is absolutely beautiful. It's not written in a language people wouldn't understand."

A BMDS release said: "In Boston Marriage, Mamet has abandoned grunge for elegance, and gritty verbal exchanges for the high-flown parlour talk of two Victorian ladies whose relationship typifies the living arrangements of many unmarried women of the period and most famously fictionalised in Henry James' novel, The Bostonians.

"Anna and Claire are very much Mamet's own creatures. What James left implicit about Boston marriages is very much explicit in the verbal ping-pong game played in Anna's parlour. There's no question as to these women's sexual preferences, nor are they too refined to send colloquialisms and curses flying freely over the net. Men are necessary evils for those short on ready cash."

According to Ms Butterfield, underneath all the drama, the play is really about relationships.

"Relationships are relationships no matter who's involved. It's all about emotions but it's got a bit of mystery in it, a bit of everything. It's truly a love story cloaked in a very funny script.

"The way David Mamet has constructed her, the Scottish maid is the real comic relief. She comes in with non-sequiturs of conversation. She brings her naivete and unsophisticated manner yet she's the one with all the answers."

What was most interesting, Ms Butterfield pointed out, was that Mr. Mamet wrote the play as a vehicle for his wife. "The role has been a tremendous challenge for me," she added. "Claire is incredibly selfish. She's self-centred. The only thing that matters is what she wants. She's not very smart although she's incredibly well-educated.

"It takes her a while to get things and some of the funniest moments in the show involve watching the penny drop for her. At the end she has an epiphany and realises that life is about compromise sometimes, that love is compromise and she needs to grow up.

"It has something for everyone. It doesn't focus on the 'L' word. That isn't the essence of the play. It's a very funny show. People hear the name Mamet and shut down. They think of Glengarry Glen Ross, they think of swearing. But this written in beautiful 19th-century drawing-room language. The costumes are incredible."

She heaped praise on her cast members, particularly Ms Shane.

"Most of what Claire does is in response to Anna's dialogue."

Boston Marriage runs tonight and tomorrow night and also June 21 through 24 at the Daylesford Theatre. The show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets, $20, are available at the box office between 5.30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Telephone bookings may be made during box office hours, on 292-0848. Tickets may also be booked online at www.bmds.bm or www.boxoffice.bm.