الوسم: Lindsay

LONDON– Lindsay Lohan only has one major speech in the David Mamet play that marks her West End debut. Unfortunately, she couldn’t remember how it went.

On the first night of previews, a work-in-progress feel is to be expected. But halfway through the second act of Speed-the-Plow, the audience was openly laughing at Lohan’s struggle to grasp Mamet’s sharp, trademark dialogue.

After her first audible prompt, which came shortly after the interval, the audience sat patiently. The second led to titters in the stalls. Unfortunately for Lohan, the next line delivered by Richard Schiff (Toby from The West Wing) was: “You have done a fantastic job!”

The laughter grew louder.

Contrary to some of the Twitter reviews, this was no car crash. If Lohan can nail her lines in the coming days, this somewhat pedestrian interpretation of the Mamet classic certainly could find its stride. The action focuses on the decision-making process of a movie studio hotshot. How do you decide which films to make? How are Hollywood careers forged and broken?

All of this, of course, has personal echoes for Lohan, a child star who burned out in the public eye. Perhaps her naive but ambitious character, desperate to make it in Los Angeles, has too many resonant lines for the audience to fully forget that this is Lindsay Lohan on stage.

When she says, breathily, “I’m serious, I’d do anything,” it’s going to be difficult for any audience to keep a straight face.

For all of Lohan’s discomfort, Schiff revels in Mamet’s edgy, witty lines. His movie producer character, Bobby Gould, is restrained but still crackling with energy. The West Wing alum is by far the best thing in the play. Though a consummate professional and far more gifted actor, Schiff doesn’t share the multimillion-dollar Hollywood prospects of Lohan, whether she manages to rebuild her topsy-turvy career or not.

There was one line Schiff seemed to spit out with extra relish: “Life in the movie business is like the beginning of a new love affair: it’s full of surprises, and you’re constantly getting fucked.”

Clare‏@Tofflee
So Lindsay Lohan had her lines written down in a book & also got fed a line. Total car crash.

Efrain Schunior ‏@iieeef 12m
Even Madonna was able to pull off speed the plow. Poor Lindsay