| Speed-the-Plow (1988) is a play by David Mamet which is a satirical dissection of the American movie business, a theme Mamet would revisit in his later films Wag the Dog (1997) and State and Main (2000). Hollywood mid-level producers Bobby Gould and Charlie Fox engage in a verbal boxing match centered around the eternal debate of art versus money. Should Gould recommend to his unseen boss another bad action would-be blockbuster? Or should he put himself on the line for a film adaptation of a spiritual, uplifting, and apocalyptic novel? The office's temp acts as catalyst in this debate. Gould has her read the novel in order to report on it to him later at his apartment. He has a secret bet that he will bed her; there she gives a glowing review of the novel's themes and content, and Gould becomes deeply effected by her and her analysis. However, she is ditched next day at the office in the play's cynical finale, with Gould's partner, Fox, accusing her of using sex to get a place in the movie business. The entire play bases itself around sex and money and the true shallowness of Hollywood. There is an 18th century English play by Thomas Morton called Speed-the-Plough, which gave the world the character of that arch-prude Mrs. Grundy, but Mamet has never indicated that he is familiar with it. In an interview in The Chicago Tribune (Feb. 19, 1989) he explained the title as follows: "I remembered the saying that you see on a lot of old plates and mugs: 'Industry produces wealth, God speed the plow.' This, I knew, was a play about work and about the end of the world, so 'Speed-the-Plow' was perfect because not only did it mean work, it meant having to plow under and start over again." Jack Kroll of Newsweek described "Speed-the-Plow as "another tone poem by our nation's foremost master of the language of moral epilepsy." Speed-the-Plow was first performed by the Lincoln Center Theater at the Royale Theater, Broadway, New York, in 1988, with a cast of Joe Mantegna (Gould), Ron Silver (Fox) and Madonna (Karen). The play was nominated for a Tony Award for Play of the Year. Silver won a Tony Award for Best Actor (Play). It has since been produced countless times in regional theaters and schools across the country. A 2006 revival in Los Angeles featured Alicia Silverstone as Karen. In 2008 it played at London's Old Vic Theatre (starring artistic director Kevin Spacey as Fox, Jeff Goldblum as Gould, and Laura Michelle Kelly as Karen). The play is scheduled to have an official opening on October 23, 2008 at the Belasco Theatre. |
Go behind the scenes at American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) and get to know the actors and director of the production of Speed-the-Plow that opens January 4, 2008 in San Francisco, California. |
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