Death, Fear & An Ethical Dilemma..Mamet! - Reviewed by J. K. Cosmos

Mad Men vibe and fast paced talk compels the audience and presents a 'Must See' production at the New Rep. With Mamet, there are expectations and they were met and then some in Watertown.

Robert Pemberton as "Bobby" with his exceptional accent not to be under-estimated when most of Hollywood only pretends to be from a particular venue. Pemberton convinces us and he readily draws us in to his point of view. Pemberton shines in this role.

The play between him and Gabriel Kuttner exceptional. Kuttner is believable as Charlie Fox and as 'everyman' who is loyal and 'true blue' to the powers that run the show and the 'friends' that tantalize and promise a leg up.

Kuttner reflects that man and humanity's attempts to move ahead at any cost in his role as Fox. He understands the game plan and reminds the audience and more crucially his pal, Bobby Gould.

To take the top off, the play has a fight scene. The sudden burst of violence and blood presents another level of Mamet at his best. Director Robert Walsh deserves kudos for the entire production. Walsh transitions the scenes and directs the actors to lead us through the phases of it all; no small feat with this play.

The pivotal conflict is dramatized effectively; both sweetly and purposefully by Aimee Doherty. Her role as Karen is the rub and she moves as an ingenue and a femme fatale. Who knew Karen (Doherty) would have this effect? Doherty plays her hand close and the audience appreciates how she develops this part.

Mamet addresses art and the concepts of being worthy, much like Oscar Wilde did in his essays on art and the value of art, artists and critics.

The Actors, the action, the play - exceptional! Speed-The-Plow

Reviewed - J.K. Cosmos - New Rep Reviewer

Speed-the-Plow-Not-to-be-Missed

by Frank Furnari

David Mamet’s Speed-the-Plow opens with Charlie Fox, a film producer, presenting the plan to make this next smash prison movie with a big name celebrity to Bobby Gould, a newly promoted studio executive. The film has everything in it and it will sell, even if it’s not a great story. The dialogue here is typical Mamet-speak where sentences are rarely finished as they are interrupted by the other person, words are often repeated, and there are lots of swear words. Gabriel Kuttner as Charlie and Robert Pemberton as Bobby do this in such a natural way, as if they always speak this way and as a result get many laughs. We then meet Karen, played by the always-great Aimee Doherty, a good-looking temp that gets both men’s attention. She is pretty, seems innocent and hasn’t really figured out how things work in Hollywood. Charlie bets Bobby that she won’t sleep with him, Bobby accepts. To get Karen to come to his house, Bobby asks Karen to read a novel that he has already decided will not make a good movie - The Bridge; or, Radiation and the Half-Life of Society –she should report on it at his house that evening. She shows up, loves it, and tries to convince him to make it into a film. She reads several quotes from the book, which are some of the funniest moments of the show. Things happen that night and the next morning that determine which film will be made and who ends up on top.

This play premiered on Broadway in 1988 (Madonna played Karen!) and it feels fresh today, you can see nothing has changed in the movie industry. The play looks at the question of art vs. business – do we make the film that should be made – a good film, or do we just make the film that will make us rich? At one point when Bobby is asked, “Is it a good film?” he replies, “it’s a commodity.” In 85minutes of witty dialogue, we get a glimpse of life in the movie business played by three actors whom you really believe lived these lives.

While the production as a whole is great, Eric Levenson’s set was unimpressive. Not consisting of much more than a few chairs and a few tables, it left me wanting a little more – is this how sparse a studio executive’s office is? But then again, this is Mamet – it’s all about the words, and there are lots of them. Pay close attention, it’s worth it - you will catch most of the words in between all the laughter.