Three’s company Acting trio teams up for Mamet comedy

The tension created by love triangles is often a favorite topic among playwrights. Think Shakespeare, Chekhov and Shaw.

Or, if you’re like Adam Kuykendall, Kae Cooney and Rich Kimball, you would add American playwright David Mamet to the list. His 1988 caustic comedy “Speed the Plow,” which the local trio has produced, directed and staged for performances this week at the Bangor Opera House, is a variation on the threesome theme. In Mamet’s quirky story, which starred Madonna in the original New York production, three Hollywood players allow the rules of commerce to trickle into their personal affairs. Accent on the affairs. Karen, the woman in the mix, ends up sleeping with one of the men in

the hopes of climbing a little higher on the movie-world ladder.

“Her goal is to come to Hollywood and make movies that are more thoughtful than summer blockbusters,” said Cooney, a veteran of local stages. “She uses her sexuality to get what she wants.”

While Kuykendall, Cooney and Kimball are close friends (Cooney and Kuykendall are also a couple), their own relationships are built on respect for each other’s acting ability and a desire to present theater in Maine. Last year, while performing in Penobscot Theatre’s summer musical “The Fantasticks,” the three began talking about putting on a play together. They did a private reading of “Speed the Plow” and fell quickly into the roles.

“When we were done, we felt like we needed to take a shower it was so sleazy,” said Kimball. “We got into the characters so frighteningly easily.”

His own favorite play is Mamet’s “Glengarry Glen Ross,” which was performed at Penobscot Theatre a few years ago. By any measure, the show was a success, but it was also controversial. Some found Mamet’s themes and coarse language too crass for local audiences. Others applauded the daring of director Mark Torres for bringing challenging theater to the stage.

The “Speed the Plow” team underscored that the script is for mature audiences, too, but insisted that it fills a gap left when Penobscot Theatre canceled its summer programming this year because of budget cuts. Still, Penobscot Theatre and Brewer’s Ten Bucks Theatre have been supportive of the show by providing expertise and performance space.

“There was some feeling among us that it was sad to see a summer go by without a show at the Opera House,” said Kimball. “This show may not be for everyone but it’s a wonderful show for people who like to see cutting-edge theater.”

Cooney and Kuykendall live in New York City, but they are teaching at a local summer theater camp, and will soon start rehearsals for Penobscot Theatre’s season premiere of “Dracula,” which opens in October. Kimball, who is assistant principal at Brewer Middle School, also planned to be in the area for the summer. So the timing was right for each professionally, too.

During a break from their rigorous rehearsal schedule, the group emphasized the importance of bonding as three actors during the process of staging the script. Kuykendall described the show as having a “three-headed director” that allowed the cast to take more chances and play more with character than if only one director were at the helm.

“In the rehearsal process, everyone has had an opportunity to have a voice, not only for their own parts but for everyone else’s part, too,” said Kuykendall. “Because we are playing such highly manipulative and mean-spirited people, we had to safeguard ourselves as friends. It meant we could turn nasty and then reaffirm that we were all friends.”

That friendship, the three agreed, forms the core of the show’s dramatic impact.

“I was nervous going into it that three friends collaborating may not, in the end, be friends any more,” said Kimball. “But this has strengthened our relationship.”

“Speed the Plow” will be staged 7 p.m. Aug. 5-7 at the Opera House in Bangor. For information, call 942-3333. Alicia Anstead can be reached at 990-8266 and aanstead@bangordailynews.net.