The Speed of Darkness

Steve Tesich

Joe
Lou (Joe's friend)
Anne (Joe's wife)
Mary (Joe's daughter)
Eddie (Mary's friend)

April 24, 1989 (1989-04-24)

Goodman Theatre, Chicago

English

Vietnam veterans

Drama

South Dakota

Plot summary[edit]

Joe is a successful businessman and a popular member of his community. He is a Vietnam War veteran. A hero to his neighbors. A construction contractor who has achieved phenomenal commercial success after the war. He is a family man. He has been named South Dakota's Man of the Year.


Everything is going perfectly until he meets a fellow Vietnam War vet, Lou. Lou, by contrast, is a total failure, a homeless man who has been shattered by the war. During this unexpected encounter, Lou reveals secrets that threaten to undermine Joe's perfect world. Joe discovers that his daughter is not his own. But what brings their world crashing down is the long-held secret that Lou reveals on how Joe began his rise to success.


Joe's fortune was based on a crime. Both Joe and Lou were complicit. They had illegally dumped barrels of toxic waste on the bluffs overlooking the area. The toxins polluted and poisoned the water supply in the region. Lou commits suicide. Joe must come to terms with their illegal act.

Katana VentraIP

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Productions[edit]

The play received its world premiere in 1989 at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, with Bill Raymond as Joe, Stephen Lang as Lou, and Lee Guthrie as Anne.[3]


It made its Broadway premiere two years later at the Belasco Theatre on February 28, 1991, where it ran for 36 performances.[4] Stephen Lang reprised his role as Lou, appearing along with Len Cariou as Joe, Lisa Eichhorn as Joe's wife Anne, Kathryn Erbe as Joe's daughter Mary, and Robert Sean Leonard as Mary's friend Eddie. Both Lang and Erbe received Tony Award nominations as Best Featured Actor and Actress (respectively) in a Play.[5][6]

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Bommer, Lawrence. Review: The Speed of Darkness. May 4, 1989. Chicago Reader.

DeRose, David J. "The Speed of Darkness and 'Crazed Vets on the Doorstep' Drama." Theater Studies, Yale University. Viet Nam Generation Journal & Newsletter, V3, N3 (November 1991).

Kocheer, Chris. "‘Speed of Darkness’ Struggles with Legacy of Vietnam War." September 26, 2017. Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin. New York. PressConnects.

Rich, Frank. Review: The Speed of Darkness. May 9, 1989. The New York Times.

Rich, Frank. 1991 Broadway Review. The Speed of Darkness. March 1, 1991. The New York Times.

at the Internet Broadway Database

​The Speed of Darkness​

"" by David J. DeRose, Theater Studies, Yale University, examining the play and the history of previous plays on the same theme.

The Speed of Darkness and 'Crazed Vets on the Doorstep'

of the world premiere production from the Chicago Reader by Lawrence Bommer; May 4, 1989.

Review

of the world premiere production from The New York Times by Frank Rich; May 9, 1989

Review

of the Broadway premiere from The New York Times by Frank Rich, March 1, 1991

Review

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