October 24, 2008

Critics give thumbs up to 'Speed-the-Plow' revival

For it’s 20th anniversary, David Mamet’s “Speed-the-Plow” gets a revival on Broadway that many critics are calling sharper and more timely now in its takedown of Hollywood.

Raves are shelled out for Jeremy Piven, Raúl Esparza, Elisabeth Moss and multi- and max-stars delivered to the production, with only a smattering of dissent.

“Speed-the-Plow” plays the Ethel Barrymore Theater, 243 W. 47th St., map, through February 22. Regular tickets are priced from $49.50 to $110. Premium seats are $201.50 and $251.50. Student rush tickets are $26.50.

The reviews:
Post - “So it is with “Speed-the-Plow.” Now, 20 years after its premiere - in which Madonna took much of the initial limelight - the beautifully played revival that opened last night establishes the play as a modern classic.”

New York Times - “What makes “Speed-the-Plow” so exciting is its power to define and destroy an entire self-contained world through the tools and weapons of spoken words, expertly wielded by a very live cast.”

Variety - “Despite a weak midsection, Neil Pepe’s taut Broadway revival keeps the verbal sniper fire swift and scathing, while the three accomplished actors make the air between them crackle with tension.”

Associated Press - “The bilious business of moviemaking remains as hilariously nasty as ever in David Mamet’s “Speed-The-Plow,” now two decades old but still packing heat in a sizzling revival which opened Thursday at Broadway’s Ethel Barrymore Theatre”

Newsday - “Despite a cast that looks wonderful on paper, director Neil Pepe’s production is small, tight and more angry than fabulously, shamelessly, joyously rude.”

Wall Street Journal - “Mr. Esparza gets the point, and the results are terrifying to behold. As Charlie Fox, the fawning underling who longs to get out from under and sees his main chance going astray, he twists himself into a double knot of aggression and desperation, then rips himself loose in a comic explosion that rocks the theater. Every line that he spits out — and he’s got a million of ‘em — feeds the insatiable fires in which he is roasting, none more inflammably than his near-monosyllabic summary of the difference between men and women: “Everyone wants power. How do we get it? Work. How do they get it? Sex.”“

Daily News - “Piven is an excellent foil. While downplaying the loudmouthed, sharklike behavior we’ve seen from him on “Entourage,” he shows Gould’s power-mad side as well as the vulnerability that gradually becomes more apparent.”

Newark Star-Ledger - “A seasoned hand at Mamet’s works, Atlantic Theater Company artistic director Neil Pepe fields an assured show dominated by Esparza’s forceful presence as nervy Charlie, especially so when his character melts down into explosive rage. “

Bloomberg - “Esparza and Piven deliver terrific performances that magnetically complement each other. Esparza is unsurpassed at revealing ecstatic exuberance or, in a twinkling, unleashed rage. He acts equally commandingly with octave-storming voice, rampaging or cringing body and galvanized or galvanizing limbs. …. “

Washington Post - “The skills of Piven, Moss and Esparza are marshaled so stylishly that you must stop and salute the leadership of director Neil Pepe, who allows us to see plainly the relevance retained by this 20-year-old smack-down of showbiz cynicism.”

Hollywood Reporter - “Although the play never quite convinces in terms of its situations and characterizations, Mamet’s razor-sharp comic dialogue makes its 90 minutes breeze by. And his observations about the movie business — in which the credo is, “Make the thing that everybody made last year” — are even more relevant today than when it was written. “

amNewYork - “While Esparza indulges in excessive eccentricity and Piven sincerely portrays his character’s change of heart as a religious rebirth, Moss is seductively low-key. Her character is a seemingly pure, delicate flower who nearly destroys her boss’s career with her high art ambition of making a real human connection.”

USA Today - “Twenty years after Plow’s Broadway debut, the wickedly fine revival that opened Thursday at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre seems less like a satire than a darkly comic documentary. Strip away the trenchant wit of Mamet’s dialogue and it’s not hard to imagine his narcissistic, desperate characters inhabiting a reality TV show.”

Philadelphia Inquirer - “Directed by Neil Pepe with style, wit and breakneck speed, there is nothing dated or irrelevant about this revival - the first of two Mamet plays slated for Broadway this season: American Buffalo, written in 1975, starts performances next week. When Mamet “drop(s) a dime on western civilization,” he doesn’t fool around. “

October 24, 2008 7:06 AM in Broadway, Midtown

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