Upstage Magazine - Belfry Theatre

UpStage THE BELFRY THEATRE · AN INSIDER’S GUIDE

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2015 BOOKS / HOW TO BE BETTER THEATRE / WHY THIS PLAY? ONLINE / PODCASTS BELFRY.BC.CA

Putting out fire with gasoline – David Mamet and Hollywood

VOLUME 2 / ISSUE 1

Hello!

Welcome to the Belfry and the start

Hollywood producer Bobby Gould has just been handed

of our 40th Anniversary Season.

a sure-fire hit – a blockbuster “prison film” – that could

It promises to be an extraordinary season and we

catapult him and his old friend Charlie Fox into big money.

kick it off with David Mamet’s explosive play about Hollywood, Speed-the-Plow.

Vincent Gale and Celine Stubel, from last year’s hit Venus in Fur, return to the Belfry as Charlie Fox and

Or, he could make the “important” art house flick that his oh-so-attractive office temp is urging him to do. A savagely funny exposé of Hollywood and the male psyche.

Karen, respectively.

Making his Belfry debut is Brian Markinson. If you are a fan of TV’s Mad Men you’ll recognize Brian from his recurring role as Dr. Arnold Rosen.

We’re thrilled to have them here for Speed-the-Plow and we hope you’ll join us for the fireworks.

Tickets are on sale now at 250-385-6815 or at www.belfry.bc.ca.

Thanks for being part of the Belfry and we look forward to seeing you soon.

Synopsis THE PLAY BEGINS IN THE OFFICE OF BOBBY GOULD. His job? Find suitable scripts to be

made into big Hollywood movies. His associate, Charlie Fox, has found such a script, and a big star to go with the project. They’ll pitch in the morning.

Charlie is beside himself - after years of toiling in obscurity he’s about to get his big break, one that will make him a player, and a lot of money.

Bobby is relieved. He’d just been asked to give a “courtesy read” to a novel about the effects of radiation.

Karen, Bobby’s temporary secretary, is given the task of reading the radiation book.

And that night, if she can convince Bobby that the radiation script is the right thing

Speed-the-Plow is generously supported by

to do, she’ll have a chip in the game.

Who We Are Upstage is the Belfry Theatre’s in-house magazine. Our goal is to

B4play

give you a leisurely, deeper look into our productions. With your

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 AT 11AM

tablet or computer you can view an

Belfry Theatre, Studio A

expanded digital version of Upstage

1291 Gladstone Avenue

on our website or at issuu.com/

Join us in Studio A for a live talk show hosted by CBC Radio’s Gregor Craigie, featuring actor Brian Markinson, director Michael Shamata, screenwriter Brian D. Young, and Anna Harvey – specialist in work/life clarity. Free Event

belfry-theatre.

Upstage is supported by

During a party after the opening of the play “Speed-the-Plow,” cast members from left, Ron Silver and Joe Mantegna plant a kiss on their leading lady, Madonna in New York, May 4, 1988. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan). Used with permission.

Putting out fire with gasoline IR A NAD E L ON DAV ID M A M ET ’ S EX P LO S I V E RE L AT I O NSH I P WI T H H O L LYWO O D Story Highlights

Hollywood and David Mamet go together like oil

expression meaning “work well and you will be

and water. Light a match and everything goes

rewarded.” His script for The Verdict with Paul

up in flames. Speed-the-Plow fans those flames in

Newman was first rejected, his efforts with The

his takedown of Hollywood producers and their

Postman Always Rings Twice were greeted with

obsession with greed and power. Who’s to blame,

derision, and his script for The Untouchables

and he recently directed Vincent and

who’s the hero? Who needs a hero? These are

was first thought unusable by the producers at

Brian in the Vancouver production of

some of the questions Mamet’s 1988 work asks in

Paramount -- until another producer convinced

Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross.

his signature, crackling dialogue. It’s a play about

them it was the best they would get.

Madonna made her Broadway debut

aggression, competition, survival – standard Mamet themes. It’s also a play with a small cast, allowing the antagonism to simmer and then boil over. He’s favoured this structure since his first hit, American Buffalo, and repeats it in Oleanna, Boston Marriage and, most recently, The Anarchist. The smaller the cast, the bigger the explosion.

Mamet’s Sexual Perversity in Chicago was the first play Belfry Artistic Director Michael Shamata directed

in the original production of Speed-

Mamet had just finished shooting his forgettable

the-Plow.

send-up of a crime movie, Things Change, about

Brian Markinson, Bobby Gould in our

a shoe-shine man mistaken for a mafia hit man,

production of Speed-the-Plow, just

when he decided to write Speed-the-Plow. He had

finished playing Dr. Arnold Rosen in

also recently lost a fight with producers over About

the hit TV show, Mad Men.

Last Night. This was a re-titled adaptation of his first hit for the stage, Sexual Perversity in Chicago.

Mamet’s own battles with producers fuelled

The film script he prepared of his own play was

Speed-the-Plow, the title originating in a medieval

bounced. Movies, he quickly learned, belfry.bc.ca

Why I Chose This Play I am a fan of David Mamet’s writing. I have produced his plays.

Celine Stubel, Vincent Gale, and Brian Markinson, cast of Speed-the-Plow.

I have directed his plays. I have read and re-read Speed-thePlow many times over the years. Every time I have read it, I have

had nothing to do with the writer or the actor or the director. Only

wanted to produce it and I have wanted to direct it. Finally, I am

the producer. Producers for Mamet were “parasites,” their cunning

doing both!

only matched by their cruelty -- so he retaliated with Speed. Hollywood,

David Mamet is universally acknowledged as one of America’s

he knew, always strangles its writers -- and when producers don’t

master playwrights. He has won every possible award, including

understand something, or it’s not “bad” enough for them, they exclaim

the Pulitzer Prize. And although he is totally a man of the

“too theatrical, too theatrical.”“Playwrights make lousy screenwriters.

theatre, he has also achieved success in the world of film, as

They want character, drama, setting. They need to learn to drop those

both a writer and a director. Anyone familiar with Mamet’s work

distractions,” argue producers.

associates him with punchy, staccato, profane language. Indeed,

In Speed, deception fights with loyalty in a world where everyone

his dialogue is masterful and hyper-realistic, full of “ums” and

is out for themselves. And it makes no difference if you’re a producer

“ahs,” repetitions and unfinished sentences, that…um…hmm…

or a temporary secretary. The problem, as Mamet once explained,

well…you know…? He is renowned for creating poetry out of

is that we all know “we should stay away from Hollywood, but we

the language of the street.

don’t.” Mamet and his wife, the actress Rebecca Pidgeon, moved to

At the same time, I often feel that Mamet is underrated as

Los Angeles in August 2002, where his commitment to filmmaking

an explorer of the soul. I believe his plays are subtly built

has taken off.

out of his understanding of and empathy for human frailty.

Early on, Mamet realized that movies are only plots; structure

He is particularly interested in the male of the species.

hardly mattered. The viewer’s only interest is what happens next.

Mamet’s focus is often the tough-talking, entitled, empowered

Ironically, what will likely happen next for Mamet may be a film

male, and his specialty is exposing that creature’s soft underbelly

of Speed. Reports emerged this summer that he’s preparing an

of fear and the fragility of his ego. It keeps his plays relevant.

adaptation of the play to be shot, of course, in Hollywood - but the

And surprising: who would expect this cigar smoking, wise-guy

producers have yet to choose a director or the stars. Let’s hope they

of a playwright to be interested in the weakness of men!

don’t find it “too theatrical.”

Two other reasons for choosing this play: it’s intelligent

Speed-the-Plow is a hurricane of competing voices with little relief.

entertainment – which is the kind of play our audiences love

But after being tossed about in the rough waters of this satire,

best; and it has great roles for actors – including Celine and

survivors will certainly have a more accurate - or perhaps sordid -

Vince, together again for the third time – following Venus in Fur

sense of movie-making.

and God of Carnage.

IRA NADEL

is the author of David Mamet, A Life in the Theatre (2012).

MICHAEL SHAMATA,

Artistic Director

Cast & Creatives Vincent Gale

Celine Stubel

Brian Markinson

David Mamet

Michael Shamata

CHARLIE FOX

KAREN

BOBBY GOULD

PLAYWRIGHT

DIRECTOR

Shawn Kerwin

Michael Whitfield Tobin Stokes

Jennifer Swan

Sadie Fox

Alix Reynolds

DESIGNER

LIGHTING DESIGNER

STAGE MANAGER

APPRENTICE STAGE MANAGER

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR (UVIC)

SOUND DESIGNER

Get Engaged

Free Childcare Performance Sunday, September 27

Booksmack!

Monday, September 28 at 7:30 pm

Take advantage of free, professional childcare (ages 3–10) at the

The librarians are back! Fast, furious and fun, Greater Victoria Public

a block from the Belfry (free parking is available right across the street

librarians return to the Belfry for Booksmack. They will let their hair

in the Victoria High School parking lot).

down, take off their glasses and speed review their favourite books.

Booksmack is presented in partnership with the Greater Victoria

Springridge Early Childhood Centre at 1222 Gladstone Avenue, just

We only have a limited number of spots available. To book your tickets

Public Library and is sponsored by Munro’s Books.

and a spot for your kids, please call our box office at 250-385-6815.

B4play Podcasts

Afterplay

If you can’t make B4play in person you can hear the full interviews on our website (the respective show page) and our soundcloud page – soundcloud.Com/belfrytheatre.

Following evening performances of Speed-the-Plow, we’ll host Afterplay - our facilitated discussion series offers patrons the opportunity to share their thoughts with fellow audience members after the show.

Select segments from B4play will air (usually during our opening week) on CBC Radio’s On The Island.

Talkback Thursday Thursday, September 24

Get Social

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter to learn more during the run of Speed-the-Plow.

On the second Thursday performance of each show, we bring the backstage experience onstage. After the curtain call, some of the actors return to the stage to answer your questions and offer insight into the play you have just experienced. These Q & A sessions last 15 – 20 minutes.

Belfry Librarian The GVPL Librarians have compiled a list of books to help you get even more out of our production of Speed-the-Plow.

List compiled by Hannah Mitchell, GVPL Adventures in the Screen Trade

The Power of Starting Something Stupid: How to Crush Fear,

BY WILLIAM GIBSON (1983)

Make Dreams Happen, and Live Without Regret

The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture

BY DAVID MAMET (2011)

Corporate Social Responsibility: An Ethical Approach

BY MARK S. SCHWARTZ (2011)

The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything

BY STEPHEN M.R. COVEY (2006)

Think and Grow Rich!: Stickability: The Power of Perseverance

BY GREG S. REID (2013)

BY RICHIE NORTON (2013)

All You Can Eat: Greed, Lust and the New Capitalism

BY LINDA MCQUAIG (2001)

The H Factor of Personality: Why Some People are Manipulative, Self-entitled, Materialistic, and Exploitive — And Why it Matters for Everyone

BY KIBEOM LEE (2012)

The Male Brain

BY LOUANN BRIZENDINE (2010)

belfry.bc.ca

Parts & Labour It is important to all of us at the Belfry – a staff and Board – that we share our resources and our expertise.

Over the course of the Belfry’s 40 seasons, many people have worked diligently to put this company on firm footing. There was a time long ago when the Belfry almost closed its doors. There was a time when the Belfry was comparatively underfunded by government agencies. Steadily strengthening

Why we support the Belfry Theatre

finances, continued excellence onstage, community support and artistic vision have combined to create a well-established theatre that is at the heart of Victoria’s cultural life, and a recognized jewel in

BY MARY JANE DERKSEN

Canada’s theatrical crown.

With stability and longevity comes responsibility,

My husband Bob and I saw Proof, our first Belfry production about a dozen years ago after we arrived from Guelph. That production convinced us we’d like to sign up as subscribers. The set for Proof, featuring an impressive two-story wood frame house with a porch was most memorable. We’ve always liked front row seats mainly because I love to examine the set in detail before the play starts.

and we take seriously our role as a leader in the arts community. Through our commissioning and development of new plays, and activities such as our SPARK Festival and the New Incubator Project, the Belfry shares its space and offers mentorship and encouragement to established and emerging

The Belfry reminds us of the cutting-edge theatre we often found in the large and

independent theatre companies and individual

diverse theatre scene in Toronto, and for that we are grateful.

artists.

On two occasions I was privileged to be an apprentice “stage-manager for a day” at

So, this season and next, Brian Linds, Jessica

the Belfry, and what a treat that was! Rather than diminish the magic theatre holds for

Hickman, and Zopyra Theatre will make use of

me the experiences left me with an even greater appreciation for the hard work and

our Studio Theatre to develop three exciting new

dedication the company puts forth, and I learned many technical terms that amuse

projects, as part of our New Incubator Project.

me just thinking of them - like “crazy horse” for a particular lighting cue.

This is in addition to, and separate from, our new

Our support has increased over the years because of the Belfry’s presentation of serious plays with talented casts and production people. I’d like to think our financial help, small as it may be, enables the company to keep on doing this.

For us, theatre is entertainment for sure, but it also must be thought-provoking and engaging, which is why we often appreciate the dramas that tackle serious or difficult subject matter even more than the musicals. We have a long drive home from the Belfry to Gabriola Island and a stimulating production gives us much to discuss on the trip. For this, we can thank the Belfry.

The theatre can’t be everything to everyone but it is nice when something really unique happens, and it does more often than not at the Belfry. For example, I remember How to Disappear Completely last season, the one-man show by Itai Erdal, who is a lighting designer rather than an actor by training, telling the story of his mother’s dying. Awesome!

play commissions and workshops. Brian, Jessica and Emma Zabloski are developing their own pieces, using our space, and will meet as a group with Belfry artistic personnel to share ideas and discoveries along the way.

We are offering an artistic home for these artists, a place to nurture and explore their latest projects, free from the pressures of a set production date.

We have removed all expectations and deadlines in an effort to encourage maximum experimentation and creativity, and we look forward to sharing their work in progress with you over the next two years.

We hope that some or all these works will become part of future Belfry programming – when the time is right!

For more information about the many ways to support the Belfry, including becoming a monthly donor, please contact Development Manager Susan Stevenson at 250-385-6835

MICHAEL SHAMATA

ext. 229 or development@belfry.bc.ca.

The New Incubator Project is supported by the Victoria Foundation.

Calendar Speed-the-Plow

Save the Date

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

Monday, October 5

September 15 – October 11

BELFRY AGM AND THANK YOU RECEPTION

As a patron of our 40th Anniversary Season join us from 5:30

Tuesdays – Thursday at 7:30 pm Wednesday Matinees at 1 pm (September 23, 30 / October 7) Fridays + Saturdays at 8 pm

to 7 pm for some light refreshments, entertainment, and our Annual General Meeting.

Saturday Matinees at 4 pm

Chelsea Hotel

Sunday Matinees at 2 pm

October 20 –November 15

A Christmas Carol

Audience Engagement Schedule B4PLAY

December 1–20

September 12 at 11 am

TALKBACK THURSDAY CHILDCARE MATINEE BOOKSMACK AFTERPLAY

The Valley

September 24 September 27 at 2 pm

February 2 –28

September 28 at 7:30 pm

2016 SPARK Festival

following evening performances

March 14 –26

Putting’ on the Ritz April 12 – May 8

A benefit for the Belfry Theatre

Crush 2015

A Fine Wine Affair

Sunday, October 25 · 5 – 8pm Inn at Laurel Point

How to buy tickets By telephone 250 385 6815

Please have your credit card ready, as well as the date and time of the performance you wish to attend.

Online

Visit belfry.bc.ca/tickets and buy your tickets online, anytime.

In person

Drop by our Box Office.

We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, debit card, cheques, and, of course, cash.

Fine Wine Live Auction

Wine Tastings

250 385 6815 www.belfry.bc.ca/crush

Cuisine Pairings

Silent Auction

Join us! Tickets $95 Includes a generous tax receipt

Generously supported by

belfry.bc.ca

Up Next

“finally made me understand what

“overwhelming

my parents love about Cohen”

inventiveness…ingenious

SAD MAGAZINE

creativity.” GLOBE & MAIL

Supported by

40TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON SPONSORS

PUBLIC FUNDERS

Belfry Theatre 1291 GLADSTONE AVENUE VICTORIA, BC

V8T 1G5