About the Play

The Revenge of the Space Pandas (or Binky Rudich and the Two-Speed Clock) is a full-length comedy for young audiences by David Mamet. Blast off into the unknown with a boy scientist as he travels through time and space with his female sidekick and a sheep named Bob. They find themselves trapped on the planet of the space pandas where the Supreme Ruler wants to turn Bob the sheep into a wool sweater. But, with a little ingenuity they just might be able to make it back to Earth in time for lunch. Especially recommended for school and contest use.

Revenge of the Space Pandas follows Leonard "Binky" Rudich, his friend Vivian Mooster, and his almost human sheep Bob who can't get Binky's two-speed clock to work. As Mrs. Rudich yells at Binky to come down for lunch, he hits the two-speed clock with a hammer in a last-ditch effort, hurtling the three children to Crestview – nearly 50 light years away from the earth. At first, Crestview, (a.k.a. the fourth world in the Goolagong System) doesn't seem so bad; the trio encounter Space Pandas who treat them to Lunafish casserole and even promise to return them home via the Spatial Relocator. But, the Supreme Ruler of the alien planet is determined to keep Bob the sheep so that he will have the only wool sweater on the planet. When he steals the two-speed clock just to make sure, Binky, Vivian, and the coveted Bob the Sheep are in for the ride of their lives. Only a very serious playwright like David Mamet could produce such a divinely silly, family-friendly, retro-sci-fi romp.

The Revenge of the Space Pandas premiered in 1978 at the historic Town Hall Performing Arts Center in the Flushing section of the New York City borough of Queens. Since then the play has been mounted by professional theatres, high schools, colleges, and community theatres.

Cast: 2 female, 6 male, 7 any gender (doubling possible)

About the Playwright:

David Mamet is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter as well as a director, novelist, poet, and essayist. He has written the screenplays for more than twenty films, including the Oscar-nominated The Verdict. His more than twenty plays include the Pulitzer Prizewinning Glengarry Glen Ross. His other awards include a Tony Award, an Academy Award, two OBIE Awards, two NYDCC Awards, and Outer Circle, Society of West End Theatre, and Dramatists Guild Hall-Warriner Awards.