By David Mamet. Directed by David Mackay. Presented by Mitch and Murray Productions. At Studio 16 on Friday, November 14. Continues until November 29

Watching Craig Erickson and Aaron Craven flying through the first scene of David Mamet’s Speed-the-Plow is more fun than waterskiing. It’s fast, it’s wild, and they’re having such a good time that you can’t help but get a contact high.

Speed-the-Plow is all about Hollywood. Charlie arrives in the office of his pal, Bobby, who has recently been appointed head of production at a major studio. Charlie is hyperventilating with excitement because box office star Doug Brown has agreed to headline in a prison script that Charlie offered him. Bobby can’t believe their mutual luck. “Rich?” he says to Charlie. “Are you kidding? We’re going to have to hire people just to figure out the things we want to buy.”

Enter the complication: Karen, a temp who’s working as Bobby’s secretary. “Is it a good film?” she asks. “Well, it’s a commodity,” Bobby answers. After she leaves, Charlie bets Bobby five hundred bucks that Bobby won’t be able to have sex with Karen. Then Karen starts to champion a project of her own, a screenplay based on a novel about radiation, fear, and transcendence, and Mamet’s exploration of art, commerce—and longing—ratchets up.

Mamet is a famously rhythmic writer and the two guys—Aaron Craven as Charlie and Craig Erickson as Bobby—play this text like virtuoso drummers. Off the top, it’s all aggressive glee as they jockey for status, kiss butt, backstab, and wisecrack. “Life in the movie business is like the beginning of a new love affair,” Charlie says. “It’s full of surprises and you’re constantly getting fucked.”

Throughout the evening, Erickson has the most work to do and he’s astonishing. Just wait till you see his vivacity, his technical mastery, and the emotional range he covers.

Kayla Deorksen is also solid in the wildly difficult and enigmatic role of Karen. The character is a combination of naiveté and ambition, but how do those qualities balance out? And she seems to be in a different rhythmic world than the guys, so where is her eccentricity, her matching edge? The script doesn’t give her one, but to her great credit, Deorksen makes compelling sense out of everything Karen says, even though the novel the character is promoting is drivel.

David Mackay, the same guy who helmed the extraordinary Becky Shaw last season, is the director who supported these excellent performances.

The super-stylish set and lighting—I particularly enjoyed the sepia-toned postcardlike images of L.A. that form the backdrops—are by David Roberts and Gerald King.

Go. You won’t have this much fun until the PNE opens again.