Kevin Spacey in Speed the Plow, Old Vic – London – review – or not

Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum both star in this 90 minutes-performance-without-a-break (toilet before you go in) American play called Speed the Plow.

When I sat down in the Old Vic and the curtain opened and Kevin Spacey stepped into the light I thought:
“Wow, you lucky bastard. Here you are, living in London, that amazing city, sitting in this wonderful theatre, and one of your very favourite actors is performing right there in front of you. You should consider yourself very lucky.”

And trust me, I do. I sometimes wish I had a remote control (something like this, but in real life) so I could pause and freeze frame the world around me and stay in the moment for a while, just looking around, taking it in.

I would step on the stage of the theatre I happened to be in, writing a “I think you are a pretty awesome actor” on a piece of paper, putting it in the pocket of the actor in question, step down, sit down again and press the resume button. That would be really cool. I won’t bother you with all other possible uses I could have for that remote. Nor which other theatres I wish I could have used it in previously.

Back to the London.

Here are some notes about Speed the Plow, and I am afraid it is all far from being too serious.

• Jeff Goldblum has incredibly long legs. My mouth fell open. He is tall (1.94m), he was dressed in a very slick suit and the legs seem to be never ending. I am sorry, I think I have a thing for long legs, when they are attached to a man that is.
• After the 90 minutes I still don’t understand the title. But then I am not American. Which is maybe a point to make, I prefer British plays, and British actors esp. when they have legs as long as, OK, you got the point.
• There is so much chemistry between Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum on stage, it was a joy to watch. Their dialogue is very fast (fasten your seatbelts) and witty.
• Kevin Spacey is unbelievably good. Again. He blew me away. Again. He is such a passionate actor. That’s what makes him so interesting to watch. He was wearing a pretty nice suit too by the way, just to make things even better.
• The story idea was interesting, Spacey and Goldblum both playing film producers, this was a story I could more than relate too. Do we choose art or money? In the end it’s all about filling the seats in the cinema, right, or?

  Act 2, unfortunately, dipped too much in pace to my liking. Maybe it was because Spacey wasn’t in it, and Goldblum having very few lines didn’t make it any more interesting. Act 3 on the other hand was explosive, intense and fantastic, and it made me wonder if I should see it again.

• Did I mention Jeff Goldblum’s insanely long legs? Oh. I did.
• I think you should see it. For Spacey and Goldblum, and for the beautiful Old Vic itself.