Speed-the-Plow

Speed-the-Plow (1988) is short 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).

Related Topics:
David Mamet - Wag the Dog - State and Main

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Hollywood producers Bobby Gould and Charlie Fox engage in a verbal boxing match trying to find a resolution to the eternal debate of Art versus Money. Should they go for another bad action blockbuster? Or should they put themselves on the line for a film adaptation of a spiritual, apocalyptic novel? Gould's secretary Karen acts as inspirator (she brought the novel to Gould's attention) and catalyst in the debate, only to be ditched just as easily in the play's cynical finale.

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The play's text contains a long motto by William Makepeace Thackeray, from his novel Pendennis, which puts the theme in larger context. It starts: "Which is the most reasonable, and does his duty best: he who stands aloof from the struggle of life, calmly contemplating it, or he who descends to the ground, and takes his part in the contest?"

Related Topics:
William Makepeace Thackeray - Pendennis

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Stylistically, Speed-the-Plow is Mamet at his best: the dialogue brims with wit and energy, while the rhythm is simply mesmerizing. Jack Kroll of Newsweek described it as "another tone poem by our nation's foremost master of the language of moral epilepsy."

Related Topics:
Jack Kroll - Newsweek

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Speed-the-Plow was first performed in 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'. Ron Silver won a Tony Award for 'Best Actor (Play)'.

Related Topics:
Broadway - Joe Mantegna - Ron Silver - Madonna - Tony Award

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David Rabe's play and subsequent film adaptation Hurlyburly could be considered a companion piece to Speed-the-Plow, centering on the empty lives of a group of Hollywood executives after the debate was won by Money.

Related Topics:
David Rabe - Hurlyburly

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