Speed-the-Plow

A major revival of David Mamet's play Speed-the-Plow in London starring Kevin Spacey, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Michelle Kelly.

"Bravura, high-octane acting from Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum" The Guardian

Hollywood producers Bobby Gould and Charlie Fox engage in a verbal boxing match centered around the eternal debate of art versus money. Should Gould go for another bad blockbuster that will make his fortune or put himself on the line for an adaptation of a spiritual, apocalyptic novel offeed to him by his beautiful secretary? In this tale of greed, seduction and power, everything he believes in will be put to the test.

"The Old Vic has an absolute blast of a smash hit on its hands" The Daily Telegraph

David Mamet's witty, caustic play - filled with his trademark rapid--fire dialogue - satirises the deal making that goes on behind-the-scenes in the movie business.

"Matthew Warchus's brilliant production" The Times

The cast for Speed-the-Plow features Kevin Spacey as 'Charlie Fox', Jeff Goldblum as 'Bobby Gould' and Laura Michelle Kelly as 'Karen'. The production is directed by Matthew Warchus with designs by Rob Howell and lighting by Paul Pyant.

"Dream casting" The Daily Express

"Jeff Goldblum's performance as Bobby Gould, studio head of production, is a delight, full of strange, inexplicable little tics and mannerisms... Kevin Spacey, as Charlie Fox, offers a rather obvious contrast, saggy, baggy and forlorn in a linen jacket, brown trousers and beige socks that don't quite go... Praise is due, too, for Rob Howell's gorgeous sets. Gould's plush office is expensively high-tech, with curvy walls, soft spotlighting and a big, minimalist chrome desk. Yet it's simultaneously messy and bleak, with stepladders and stacks of cardboard boxes against the walls." The Sunday Times

"A stand-out turn from Laura Michelle Kelly" The Sunday Express

"While Spacey lumbers, Goldblum strolls. When Goldblum drawls, Spacey spits. In one of the most exciting locking of male antlers on stage for years, Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum have created a surefire hit for the Old Vic. Their gladiatorial exchanges are so hot, and so linguistically gymnastic, that they almost disguise the fact that this is a lazy play, one which has a big, woman-shaped gap at its centre." The Observer

"A rare theatrical triumph" The London Evening Standard

"Director Matthew Warchus's casting of the men is spot-on, physically at least. Goldblum's lanky Gould slinks, at once cool and creepy, around the stage in sharp contrast to Spacey's baggy, brawny, untidy, frantic, coke-snorting Fox, who even attempts some sit-ups while smoking to try to calm his excitement. Spacey's pitch-perfect performance is a tour de force; he speaks fluent Mamet from the start, making sense of the babble, stopped phrases, staccato utterances and explosive thoughts." The Mail on Sunday

David Mamet's plays seen recently in London's West End include Glengarry Glen Ross (currently playing at The Apollo Theatre up to 12 January 2007 starring Jonathan Pryce and Aidan Gillen), The Cryptogram (Donmar Warehouse 2006 with Kim Cattrall and Douglas Henshall), A Life in The Theatre (Apollo Theatre 2005 with Patrick Stewart) and Oleanna (Garrick Theatre 2004 with Aaron Eckhart and Julia Stiles). Mamet's other plays include Glengarry Glen Ross, Oleanna and American Buffalo.

Kevin Spacey appeared in David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross on film and recently at The Old Vic in A Moon for the Misbegotten (2006), Richard II (2005), The Philadelphia Story (2005) and National Anthems (2005).