The Woods, described by the Chicago Daily News as a "beautifully
conceived love story," is a modern dramatic parable in which a young man
and woman who spend a night in his family's cabin experience passion,
then disillusionment, but are in the end reconciled by mutual need.
In Lakeboat, eight crew members aboard a merchant ship exchange their
wild fantasies about sex, gambling, and violence.
In Edmond, a man set morally adrift leaves an unfulfilling marriage to
find sex, adventure, companionship, and, ultimately, the meaning of his
existence.
Of The Woods, Richard Eder of The New York Times wrote that Mamet's
"language has never been so precise, pure, and affecting."
Michael Feingold in The Village Voice praised Lakeboat for its "richly
overheard talk and its loopy, funny construction."
Jack Kroll of Newsweek called Edmond "a riveting theatrical experience
that illuminates the heart of darkness."