As we were making the trip to London for "Othello" we wanted to make the most of our time there, and when the opportunity came to see Kevin Spacey in "Speed-the-Plow" at the Old Vic we quickly booked up - even before Jeff Goldblum was announced as joining the cast. But due to the way the dates worked out it had to be an early Preview of the show (2nd night). So we'll be keeping our thoughts pretty limited on this one...
In essence we both really enjoyed it. Okay, so David Mamet's play doesn't really tell us anything about the murky world of film producers that we couldn't have guessed but it gives us a lot of fun along the way. With three scenes and a 90 minute run time the show flies in and Spacey and Goldblum both give great performances as film producers considering the merits of a couple of scripts. The dialogue is never short of entertaining and their delivery makes the most of it. Laura Michelle Kelly also does well with the more limited role as Goldblum's temporary secretary.
It's good stuff all round (Waldorf particularly loved the set) and it remains in Preview for several more shows which should let them perfect the rather pulled stage fight.
"Speed-the-Plow" completes Previews on 11 Feb then runs until 26 April
Monday, February 04, 2008
"Speed-the-Plow" - February 2008
3 Heckles
Hello there
I just saw Speed The Plow and loved it. It's early days and Spacey and Goldblum seemed slightly nervous in the first ten minutes or so, which was rather sweet. I thought their performances were fantastic. I also loved the set.
I think they've got a hit on their hands. Mind you, I thought that about All About My Mother at the Old Vic but reviews were mixed and the critics (except de Jong in The Standard) were lukewarm. But I don't see how they can fault this.
All the best
Helen
I wonder if these people actually saw the same play as I did. I went along at the end of week one expecting to see a thoroughly intelligent comedy. What I witnessed was an awful farce in every sense of the word. The story is predictable, the jokes are groan-inducingly poor and with the exception of Stacey the performances were as wooden as my front door. Maybe it was the pregnant pauses or perhaps the over-acted dialogue but I couldn't relate to any of the characters or even imagine them as real. The play presses on through three acts and 90 minutes without a break. By the start of the third act it was only my British sense of politeness that was still keeping me there.
I wouldn't recommend this play to anyone. Which is a shame because I'm a big Goldblum fan.
Peter
I have to agree with Peter, this seems like a vanity project for Spacey where he just rehashes his camp-sarcastic routine from Swimming With Sharks and American Beauty. The script is weak, the plot insubstantial... so Hollywood is a corrupt place where people snort coke and talk dirty - tell us something we don't know!
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