In the following excerpt, author William Demastes discusses how the relationship between Life in the Theatre's two main characters reflects the theme of capturing the moment.

Mamet does produce a more "epic" work in The Water Engine (1977) and later in Glengarry Glen Ross (1984). But before achieving these more "audience-pleasing" and epic designs, Mamet wrote Reunion, The Woods, Dark Pony, and other shorter works. As noted earlier, they are dramas that focus very specifically on select human relationships— between a father and daughter or man and woman, for example. Perhaps the most popularly successful of this type was A Life in the Theatre (1977). Several critics suggest that its popularity was due to its subject matter, the theatre, but it must be conceded that the dynamics illustrated in the relationship presented, between a veteran actor and a newcomer, plays a significant role in the play's gaining acclaim.

It...