Speed-The-Plow - The Old Vic (Review)
Review by Jack Foley
HOLLYWOOD has a proud history of male acting partnerships whose effortless charisma and witty repartee make for some classic viewing experiences, whether it’s Redford and Newman, Lemmon and Matthau or Clooney and Pitt…
Well, you can now add Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldlbum to that list – and best of all, they’re doing it on the West End stage!
These two acting heavyweights strike sparks off each other in an adaptation of David Mamet’s Speed-The-Plow, a biting Hollywood satire that examines the greed that drives the film industry, as well as the friendships and loyalties that get tested (and sometimes burned) along the way.
Bobby Gould (Goldlbum) is the newly promoted head of production at a major studio whose long-time friend and fixer, Charlie Fox (Spacey), has just convinced Tinseltown’s most bankable star to make a bog-standard prison picture that will make everybody rich.
They have 24 hours to seal the deal and the world is their oyster. Surely nothing can stand in their way.
In a mad, mad moment, however, Fox bets Gould $500 that he can’t seduce his temporary secretary, Karen (Laura Michelle Kelly), setting in motion an unlikely chain of events that throw a major spanner in the works.
Gould, keen to show his friend that he can appeal to people on a purely personal basis, invites Karen back to his apartment that night, so that she can brief him on an apocalyptic novel he’s been given as a courtesy read.
She obliges but brings with her an enthusiasm for the message behind the book that compels him to throw caution to the wind and switch loyalties – a decision that Fox must work doubly hard to reverse or face further career obscurity.
In lesser hands, Mamet’s play could have become a dull, worthy, even cold affair that treads overly familiar territory. Thanks to Goldlbum and Spacey, it’s a breathless whirlwind of a production that places audiences firmly in the eye of the storm.
Both men are on top form – their real-life friendship translating to an effortless charisma early on that eventually gives way to confusion, resentment and rage.
Spacey’s Fox is a fascinatingly complex creation: a bitter, twisted individual whose long overdue shot at the big-time makes him giddy with possibility. When Karen’s intervention threatens to take that away, he’s a violent force of nature: a maelstrom of pent-up rage that explodes into violence during one of the show’s most shocking moments.
He wreaks of desperation – and yet somehow we come to pity rather than despise him. We feel his frustration at being made to wait for his shot at the big-time and, by extension, his hurt at being betrayed. And we root for Gould to make the right decision, even though it will ultimately be wrong by us, the eventual viewers.
Goldblum, meanwhile, is just as likeably flawed – a studio boss whose outward confidence actually masks a man who finds himself lost and in need of some personal validation. He’s the go-to guy for a thousand dreams (“I’m being asked to make sequels to films that haven’t even been made yet”) and yet no one sees him for who he really is.
When Karen exposes this vulnerability during their evening together and re-ignites the long dormant risk-taker in him, it’s Fox who stands to lose out. And yet we can’t totally blame Gould for his moment of weakness.
We won’t reveal what Gould ultimately chooses but the final act, in which Fox attempts to resurrect his pet project no matter what the personal cost, makes for mesmerising theatre. The fireworks are truly spectacular.
One mustn’t forget the contribution of Kelly, either, who provides the catalyst for the showdown. The role of Karen is, in truth, a thankless one but Kelly acquits herself well as the blushing violet who sets Gould’s heart fluttering.
A more obvious touch might have been to make her more knowingly vampish, or at least to lend her some ambiguity – but Kelly opts for a cuteness and honesty that might go some way to explaining why her innocence could be so appealing to Gould in a world where everyone has an agenda.
It’s a neat trick that actually makes some of the final revelations hit harder – and which ensures that this is a more humane interpretation of Mamet’s work (which is often more cold and brutal).
Elsewhere, audiences are treated to a nicely designed set by Rob Howell (Gould’s plush apartment emerging as a particular highlight), and some minimalist direction from Matthew Warchus that ensures the two male leads are always the focus.
Mamet’s script, too, is loaded with several witty gems that the actors clearly relish repeating, as well as some Hollywood potshots that are all too honest (as this critic knows only too well!), making the evening one to savour on many levels.
But it’s ultimately Spacey and Goldblum who take most of the plaudits, their expert timing and overall brilliance leaving you thirsting for more.
Speed-The-Plow by David Mamet at the Old Vic Theatre.
Director: Matthew Warchus
Designer: Rob Howell
Lighting: Paul Pyant
Casting: Jim Carnahan
CAST: Kevin Spacey, Jeff Goldblum, Laura Michelle Kelly
Booking until April 26, 2008.
The Old Vic, 103 The Cut, Waterloo Road, SE1 8NB. Tel: 0870 060 6628.
Nearest Tube: Waterloo.
nice review, I just wonder what Rob means by adaptation in his review, surely its not an adaptation, surely its a faithful rendering of the script?
mark Mar 2 #I have to agree – these two are dynamite together. One of the West End’s greatest double acts – and I’ve seen a few!
Janet Mar 6 #