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Speed-the-Plow | Introduction

David Mamet’s Speed-the-Plow is one of several successful plays he has written about the business world. Filled with Mamet’s trademark, rapid-fire dialogue, Speed-the-Plow focuses on the ruthless nature of Hollywood and the movie industry. Mamet was familiar with this environment, having written several produced screenplays in the 1980s. The title Speed-the-Plow is derived from an old English farming phrase which was used to confer good luck and a swift and profitable ploughing. Critics and scholars have speculated that Mamet might be comparing Hollywood’s fast pace and profit motivations to this past, for in the play cold business fact wins out over artistry and idealism.

Speed-the-Plow was first produced on Broadway in the Royale Theater, opening on May 3, 1988. The play was a box office success even before opening night, in part because pop star and cultural icon Madonna played the role of Karen, the temporary secretary. Advanced ticket sales exceeded $1 million. To many critics, Madonna’s celebrity made an ironic comment on the play’s action. Like many of Mamet’s plays, Speed-the-Plow highlights men and their complicated relationships. Mamet has been routinely criticized for writing over-simple, objectified female characters over the course of his career, and this play received similar accusations regarding Karen.

Critics gave Speed-the-Plow generally good reviews during its Broadway production. Mamet had won the Pulitzer Prize for drama several years earlier for his 1984 play Glengarry Glenn Ross, which also focuses on men in the business world. Many critics saw similarities between Speed-the-Plow and Glengarry Glenn Ross and found the latter superior. Still, most praised Mamet’s use of dialogue and taunt plotting. Critics disagreed on the value of the play in the Mamet canon. Some saw it as a variation of Mamet’s business dramas and therefore unoriginal, while others found deep meaning in the seemingly superficial depiction of two Hollywood producers looking for a big break.

Speed-the-Plow Summary

Scene 1
Speed-the-Plow opens in Bobby Gould’s new office in the morning. Gould, the newly promoted head of production at a movie studio is reading a book when Charlie Fox enters. Fox is very excited about something, but Gould continues to leaf through the book he is reading, making fun of its contents. Gould becomes suspicious when Fox asks if he can ‘‘greenlight’’ (approve) a movie deal, but his fears are quickly abated as Fox elaborates. Fox was visited earlier in the morning by a big movie star, Doug Brown, who is free to do a movie with him based on a prison script that Fox had sent him earlier; the star has given Fox until 10 am tomorrow to come up with a deal. Gould immediately calls his superior, Ross, and while he waits for him to call back, he and Fox discuss the Doug Brown story.

Ross calls back and says they will meet in ten minutes. In the meantime, Gould and Fox discuss the script, which is a prison movie/buddy picture, with ‘‘action, blood, and a social theme.’’ Before Fox can ask, Gould assures him that he will get a coproducer credit. Gould thanks Fox for his loyalty because he could have taken the deal elsewhere. They discuss the strategy for the meeting. Gould will do the talking, summarizing the script in one line for Ross. Before they can finish, Ross calls telling Gould that he has to be out of town until tomorrow morning. Fox worries that his option will expire before they can talk to Ross, but Gould assures him they will talk to Ross in time. Fox realizes they are going to be rich, and Gould tells him that they will be very rich. Gould, though, says that money is not everything and people are more important in their business.

Gould calls for coffee, but the temp does not know where it is. While they wait for her to bring coffee in, Fox remains jumpy, finally picking up the novel Gould was reading earlier, titled The Bridge; or, Radiation and the Half-Life of Society. A Study of Decay. Fox suggests he make the book into a movie, then jokes that he should do it instead of the Doug Brown picture. Karen, the twentysomething temporary secretary, comes in with the coffee. While Karen is there, Fox and Gould talk about how they have been loyal friends for many years and... » Complete Speed-the-Plow Summary