New Rep Announces SPEED THE PLOW 10/19-11/7 At The Arsenal Center For The Arts

New Repertory Theatre, in residence at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, is pleased to present Speed-the-Plow a drama by David Mamet. Speed-the-Plow opens for the press on Monday, October 19, 2009 at 7:30pm and plays through Saturday, November 7, 2009 at the Arsenal Center for the Arts in the Charles Mosesian Theater.

"Speed-the-Plow is a theatrical trifecta," states Kate Warner, Artistic Director for New Repertory Theatre. Mamet is one of America's best contemporary playwrights, Robert Walsh is a superb director, and the cast is outstanding."

Ms. Warner adds, "The play is going to be 85 minutes of fast paced dialogue, wit, and phenomenal acting."

Robert Walsh, the director of Speed-the-Plow comments, "I am very excited to be a part of Kate's inaugural season! Particularly with a play that continues to have contemporary resonances within a medium that is constantly undergoing changes in 'how things get done.' This is a wonderfully fulfilling experience for me, having appeared in State and Main, one of the author's more caustic send-ups of the movie industry."

New Repertory Theatre presents provocative and intelligent works of both established and emerging playwrights in an intimate setting that involves and engages the audience. New Rep has earned a reputation for dynamic productions that honor the writers and feature talented professional actors from the New England Theatre community as well as guest artists from around the U.S. New Rep has received Elliot Norton and IRNE Awards for outstanding acting, scenic design, directions, and production. Programming for New Repertory Theatre is supported in part by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

The Artists

Aimee Doherty* (Karen) is thrilled to be back at New Rep, having appeared in Cabaret (Sally Bowles), tick, tick...BOOM! (Susan), Wild Party (ensemble/Queenie u/s), Ragtime (Evelyn Nesbit), and Into the Woods (Cinderella). Other regional credits include: Grey Gardens (Young Edie), Follies (Young Phyllis), See What I Wanna See (Kesa/the wife/an actress), and Adrift in Macao (Lureena) with Lyric Stage; The Pain and the Itch (Kelly) with Company One; The Women (Peggy), Bubbly Black Girl..., (Scarlet) and Company (Kathy) with SpeakEasy; On the 20th Century (Anita) staring Alice Ripley with Overture Productions; and Promises Promises (Fran) with Animus Ensemble.

Gabriel Kuttner* (Charlie Fox) is delighted to be making his debut at New Rep. Gabriel is a core member of the Award-winning Orfeo Group, where credits include: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) and Look Back in Anger. For the Publick Theatre roles include: Faith Healer (IRNE Nomination - Best Supporting Actor), Travesties, Romeo and Juliet, Misalliance, Copenhagen,The Beard of Avon, and Design for Living. Other U.S. credits include: The Rainmaker (Worcester Foothills); Pugilist Specialist and Bug (Wellfleet Harbor Actor's Theater); Talking to Terrorists (Súgán Theatre Company); as well as originating the role of Henry Kohl in the World Premiere of Permanent Whole Life (IRNE Award - Best New Play) at Boston Playwrights' Theatre. London credits include: Greek by Steven Berkoff (Riverside Studios); the European Premiere of In the Boom-Boom Room by David Rabe and Rents (Courtyard Theatre); the European Premiere of Shaved Splits by Sam Shepard (Edinburgh Fringe and Riverside Studios); and Death of a Salesman (English Theatre, Frankfurt). Recent directing work includes: Copenhagen (Provincetown Theater) and Look Back in Anger (Elliot Norton Award - Outstanding Production) for Orfeo Group. Gabriel is a graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Robert Pemberton* (Bobby Gould) is happy to be back working at New Rep, having just been seen in The Goat (Gloucester Stage Company); The Random Carusoe (CentaStage); and Patriot Act (The Fringe Festival in Edinborough, Scotland. He has also recently played Drazen in Ponies at Gloucester Stage Company), as well as Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Boston Theatre Works). He has been seen in Dinner With Friends (Tom) at the GSC; Mercy Seat (Ben) at
Lyric Stage; Woman in Black (Kipps) at Stoneham Theatre; Antony and Cleopatra (Antony) at Boston Theater Works; Much Ado About Nothing (Benedick) at the Publick Theatre; and in the World Premiere of Shel's Shorts at the Market Theatre (2002 Elliot Norton Award). He has also been seen at the Huntington Theatre; North Shore Music Theatre; Merrimack Repertory Theatre; SpeakEasy; Foothills Theatre; and The Nora, as well as being a cast member in the long running
Shear Madness at the Charles Theatre. Robert's most recent film work includes: By the Sea (nominated for a Latin Oscar); Treading Water; Boondock Saints; The Exchange; Gentleman from Boston; Temps; The Still Point; The New England Connection; and Anathema. On the smaller screen, he can be seen in a recurring role on Showtime's Brotherhood, as well as Another World; Guiding Light; Unsolved Mysteries; and in many local and national commercial spots.

David Mamet (playwright) David Mamet was born in Chicago in 1947. He studied at Goddard College in Vermont and at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theater in New York. He has taught at Goddard College, Yale Drama School, New York University, at Atlantic Theater Company, of which he is a founding member. He is the author of many plays including: November, The Cryptogram, Oleanna, Glengarry Glen Ross, American Buffalo, and Sexual Perversity in Chicago. He has also written screenplays for such films as: House of Games, the Oscar-nominated The Verdict, The Spanish Prisoner, The Winslow Boy, and Wag the Dog. His plays have won the Pulitzer Prize and the Obie Award.

Robert Walsh (director): New Rep Director: True West, Holiday Memories, The Circle. New Rep Actor: The Cocktail Hour. New Rep Fight Director: Pillowman, Approaching Moomtaj, A Girl's War, among others. Actors' Shakespeare Project: Coriolanus, Twelfth Night, and Measure for Measure. Other directorial credits include: Othello (Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey); Table Manners, Round and Round the Garden, K2, and Later Life (Merrimack Repertory Theatre); The Goatwoman of Corvis County and The Secret of Sherlock Holmes (Shakespeare & Company); I Hate Hamlet (StageWest); The Little Foxes (Barter Theatre); The Widow's Blind Date (Gloucester Stage Company); Misalliance and A Life in the Theatre (Two River Theatre Company); The Liar (Lyric Stage); The Speed of Darkness (The Nora); Of Mice and Men (Stoneham Theatre); A Lie of the Mind (A.R.T./M.X.A.T. Institute); and numerous productions at the American Stage Festival, where he served as Producing Artistic Director. Robert is a faculty member at the Institute for Advanced Theater Training at A.R.T.  and Brandeis University.