Glengarry Glen Ross charts two days in the lives of four desperate Chicago real estate agents who are prepared to engage in any number of unethical, illegal acts to sell undesirable real estate to unwilling prospective buyers - from lies and flattery, to bribery, threats, intimidation and burglary.  This black comedy draws partly on Mamet's experiences of life in a Chicago real estate office, where he worked briefly in the late 1960's.

The original play opened at the National Theatre of London in 1983 and then moved to Chicago before going on to Broadway, opening at the John Golden Theatre in New York in March 1984, running for 378 performances.  The play won both the 1984 Tony Award for Best Play, and the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.  The 1992 film adaptation featured an all-star cast including Jack Lemmon, Kevin Spacey, Ed Harris, Alec Baldwin and Al Pacino.