Speed the Plow : the cast produces a probing performance of this corrosive demolition jon on the pretensions of industry movers and shakers.
Hollywood power brokers can be so entrenched in their own self-regarding culture that they often have a skewed awareness, not only of the world outside but of what they themselves are really like.
So the set designed by Ivo Valentik for this new Ottawa production of Speed The Plow, David Mamet’s corrosive demolition job on the pretensions of industry movers and shakers, seems entirely appropriate to the occasion. It is, in its own way, a thing of bizarre beauty — a marvel of rampaging black and white lines dislocated by odd angles, distorted doorways and a cunningly raked floor — which keeps wreaking havoc with perspective.
Indeed, one of the most striking aspects of this offering from Plosive Productions is its solid sheen of professionalism. The design which greets us when the lights go up is the first piece of evidence. Then, there is the crisp direction of Teri Loretto-Valentik. And finally there are the two lead performances by John Muggleton and Chris Ralph.
Muggleton plays Bobby Gould, a newly promoted studio boss. It’s a probing performance — on the surface the image of the cool executive quietly revelling in his new found power, a man comfortably aware that in he’s in the business of manufacturing commodities, not art. It’s only later that the anxieties and insecurities are brought to the surface — and devastatingly so.
Then there’s Charlie Fox, a pushy producer, portrayed with the sweaty intensity of a carny barker by Chris Ralph. He’s decided to call in some dues, and persuade his erstwhile friend and colleague to bankroll his new project — a potentially lucrative “safe stinker” full of profitable rape and violence, to which a major star is ready to attach himself if the studio makes up its mind quickly.
Mamet is a playwright who can impose severe demands on his actors — demands which are fully evident in a play in which the profanity of the language really reflects Mamet’s own views on the profanity of the mainstream Hollywood culture. But in the remarkable opening scene of Speed The Plow, where Charlie rattles off his pitch and Bobby responds, we’re also getting a striking example of Mamet’s way with dialogue which is a potent fusion of rhythm, cadence and raw musicality.
This is language capable of grabbing you by the throat. Loretto-Valentik’s direction and the performances of these two actors meet the demands of the text right through to the final emotional explosion in the third act.
Mamet is essentially a moralist, offended here by what he perceives as a degraded culture, and although he has worked and profited from the studio system, his contempt for it can be palpable. With the protagonists of Speed The Plow cheerfully conceding that their business is “a sinkhole of slime and depravity,” it would be an aberration for them to seek out more worthy material. When it comes to the allure of prison violence against the alternative of a glum cautionary tract about nuclear holocaust, there’s really no contest — no contest, that is, until Bobby develops a lust for his temporary secretary (Kyla Gray) and flatters her pretensions to intellectuality by asking her to read the armageddon material and give her opinion.
This leads to a violent final-act confrontation with Charlie screaming betrayal — not only of himself but of the hallowed doctrines of mass-market film-making. Yes, art is ill-served in the world of this play — but not in this admirable production.
A word about newcomer Kyla Gray who plays the secretary. She’s still growing into the role, and although does seem to understand her character, she needs to relax more. Nevertheless, she should take comfort in the fact that her work is infinitely preferable to Madonna’s immature, sophomoric, inept performance on Broadway in 1988.
Jamie Portman