LAKEBOAT is a semiautobiographical play by David Mamet, first produced in 1980.
This is the tale of Dale Katzman, a college student from an Ivy League school who takes a summer job as a cook in the galley of the T. Harrison, a steamboat for a Chicago-based steel concern. Dale's predecessor, Guigliani, endured a particularly violent end while on terra firma, the cause and nature of which is speculated by the other crew members. Dale, and the audience, gets to know each of them, including: Fireman, who reads voraciously when not "watching the gauges"; Fred, who imparts his unique, politically incorrect philosophy regarding women on the young man, and, especially; Joe Litko, a 23-year veteran of the seas, who sees much of himself in Dale. The dialogue is Mametspeak at its most raw, as secrets are shared, picayune matters are debated, and fantasies are laid out, vividly.
