The revival of David Mamet's 1988 comedy „Speed-the-Plow,” starring Jeremy Piven, Elisabeth Moss and Broadway veteran Raul Esparza, has come into much critical acclaim, since the author’s spot-on comic dialogue and witty remarks on the movie industry seem to have stood the test of time. Or better yet, these past twenty years have even rendered them to be more right on the money than ever.

„Speed-the-Plow” premiered on Broadway at the Royale Theatre in a production by the Lincoln Center Theater on May 3, 1988, the play closing on Dec 31, that same year, after 279 performances.

This first Broadway revival, which was directed by Atlantic Theatre Company artistic director Neil Pepe, began previews on October 3, 2008 and opened this Thursday, October 23.

Piven gives life to lead character Bobby Gould, a Hollywood mid-level producer striving to put to rest an ages old controversy: art for art’s sake or art for money.

Alongside fellow producer Charlie Fox, portrayed by Raul Esparza, he struggles to solve this never ending dilemma, trying to figure out whether to pitch a prison movie idea that would definitely turn into a block-buster to his boss or to set out to do a film adaptation of a spiritual novel.

The character who becomes the very symbol of the aforementioned controversy is Karen (played by Elisabeth Moss), Gould’s new secretary, who is asked to read the novel and report on it to her boss. She offers Gould an insightful review of the book, which impresses him, but what naive Karen doesn’t know is that her boss and his partner had a bet going as to whether Gould could get her to sleep with him.

„Speed-the-Plow’s” original cast featured Joe Mantegna (Gould), Ron Silver (Fox) and Madonna (Karen), the play having, at that time, been nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play and Best Direction of a Play.