HOUSE OF DAVID from page 65 dealt directly only once with a Jewish character in his work. That was in the film Homicide, about a Jewish cop. Last year he returned to his roots and wrote a well received play, The Old Neighborhood, about a late-thirtyish Jewish man trying to make sense of his past during a visit home. His religious background formed the basis for the newly released book Bar Mitzvah (Little, Brown & Co., $26.95). The exquisitely illustrated story addresses what it means to be a Jew, as told to a young boy on the brink of adulthood. Mamet's tale juxtaposes the inner workings of a watch with the struggle of the Jews during the Holocaust. A hand- ful of the books were signed, silk-screened by hand, and released in numbered special editions, complete with 22-carat gold leaf drawings. The original artwork, by Donald Sultan, is currently on display at the Jewish Museum in New York City. The Winslow Boy, which Mamet adapted from British dramatist Terence Rattigan's cel- ebrated play, is set in 1910 and based on a real-life story of a 13- year-old naval cadet who is accused of stealing a five-shilling postal order. Convinced of the boy's innocence, the Winslow fami- ly, including father (Nigel Hawthorne), mother (Gemma Jones) and sister (Mamet's wife, Rebecca Pidgeon), persuade the country's leading lawyer, Sir Robert Morton (Jeremy Northam), to take on the defense. As the case pro- ceeds, it challenges many long- accepted legal notions and sets off a national frenzy — and exacts a heavy price on the family. "As a dramatist myself, I admire Rattigan, and I tried to do The Winslow Boy as a Broadway play for many years," Mamet has said. "It occurred to me that it was probably easier to make a movie of it, which turned out to be true." (In an unusual twist for a writer associated with the use of obscenities in his work, Mamet's latest film has a "G" rating.) Mamet currently divides his time between homes in Cambridge, Mass., and Vermont, which he shares with Pidgeon and their daughter, Clara. He has two other daughters, Willa and Zosia, from his previous marriage to Philip Berk is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer. Gail Zimmerman and Dina Fuchs contributed to this article. 5/28 1999 A I the actress Lindsay Crouse. He was recently in Los Angeles to talk about his latest project and the impact his religion has on his work. JN: Your latest work, The Winslow Boy, has many biblical references. One of the central ideas of the play questions to what degree we pursue the truth, and at what cost. DM: It's a question that keeps getting repeated throughout human history. It's the story of Queen Esther. Queen Esther doesn't want to speak up against the king because the king doesn't know she's Jewish. It is Mordecai, her adviser, who tells her, "How do you know this said, "This is what I want you to do." But one doesn't get that card when one is put to the test. JN: In the movie, Sir Robert Morton, a respected attorney, agrees to defend a boy who's been accused of stealing. Well into the proceedings, he is advised to drop the case, but instead invokes the Book of Proverbs, which tells him not to side with the great against the powerless. DM: The prophet Micah was asked, "What must we do?" And he replied, "There are only three things you have to do: Do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God." The boy's father almost sacrifices everything to see that justice is done. Paradoxically, many times when we find ourselves enthused with the spirit of righteousness, we're probably doing wrong . JN: What inspired your liberalism? DM: I guess my background has something to do with it. My father Avove: Rebecca Pidgeon as Catherine Winslow in "The Winslow Boy" The wife of David Mamet, Pidgeon convert- ed to Judaism, and studied to become a bat mitzvah. "Because my husband is Jewish. , I wanted to have coherence in our family," she said "We happen to have a great rabbi whom I adore — who's very inspiring for us — and its a good way of life for us." JN: What inspires you to write? DM: Oleanna came out of the years I spent working in fairly high-ticket universities as an adjunct professor, a visiting lecturer, or something like that. As I've said in a lot of my essays, it was like being in a petting zoo — they would bring me to the university, and the students would get to pet me and feed me peanuts. I was really stunned by the state of higher learning. I was given an office almost on the grounds of Harvard University. I always refer ro it as the epicenter of world ignorance. I was amazed at what went on there. American Buffalo began 25 years ago, when I had a theater company with [the actor, William H.] Macy (Fargo). I was driving a cab to make some money. Bill was working as a bartender. We were both very poor, working on our theater company at night. Neither of us had any money. I went over to his apartment one night and opened the refrigerator looking for something to eat. There was a slab of American cheese that looked like building mate- rial, and I cut a very thick piece because I was hungry. And he looked at me and he said, "Help yourselE" I was so hurt by his attitude that I started writing this play with its 15- minute monologue about a character, [Peach], who wanted to take a piece of toast off a friend's plate and the friend said, "Help yourself" And he's furious. JN: What is a typical day like for you? DM: I suppose I get out of the house in the morning, and try to waste as much time as possible. Just before I have to go home, having written nothing, I say to myself, "You really want to go home at night having wasted this day?" So I say, "OK, I'm going to write something." Right: Nigel Hawthorne as Arthur Winslow and Guy Edwards, as his son, Ronnie. isn't what you were born for? If [perse- cution of the Jews] is going to happen to everyone else, eventually it's going to happen to you. This is exactly why you were born." The same with Emile Zola, who wasn't even Jewish. Why is he stand- ing up for Dreyfus? And then there's Theodore Herzl, a completely assimi- lated Jew who was covering the Dreyfus trial for his paper in Vienna. All of a sudden, his life changes and he becomes the founder of the State of Israel? It N,vould be easy to suffer if God or someone gave you a card and DM: It hasn't yet, but it will because the language is so magnificent, so magnificently simple, so blunt and simple and straightforward. — may he rest in peace — was a labor lawyer. He worked his whole life for the rights of working people. I was exposed at a very young age to these traditions of social justice. JN: How is Judaism a part of your daily life? DM: I always read the Bible. I used to read it in English. Now I'm learning to read the Torah in Hebrew. I can get through it with the help of a dictionary JN: Has your Bible study had an influence in your writing? JN: Have you ever visited Israel? DM: My wife and I were there a few years ago. We took our movie Homicide to the Jerusalem Film Festival. We spent a couple of months over there. I'd love to go back. II 1 The Winslow Boy, rated G, opens Friday, June 4, exclusively at the Main Theatre, II8 N. Main, in Royal Oak. (248) 542-0180.