Bitter Wheat Tickets

Bitter Wheat, David Mamet's savage Hollywood black comedy

Bitter Wheat saw David Mamet making a scathing and uproariously comedic return to theatre writing. He takes vicious aim at the Harvey Weinstein face of Hollywood through a horrifically cynical character creation, Barney Fein. This monster is played by Hollywood and Broadway heavyweight John Malkovich, his first return to the stage after a 30-year absence. Get involved in a really significant theatre production when you buy or sell Bitter Wheat tickets on StubHub.

An exceptional theatre treat of Mamet and Malkovich

Bitter Wheat has already won Malkovich huge acclaim, not least because of the sheer impact of his return to live theatre performance. It is of course his original home, with the legendary method actor having made his stage debut way back in 1984, in that quintessential American play, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. He won a Drama Desk award for his performance, most certainly a portent of things to come. In Bitter Wheat, he almost made a modern West End debut, so long had it been since he last trod the boards. In this instance, it was Garrick Theatre that was chosen as the venue for this momentous teaming up of one of America's great modern playwrights and an actor who has become Hollywood royalty by turning in finely nuanced performances of intricate and deeply flawed characters. In his hands, Mamet's character has been brought to vividly unpleasant life in a superb performance. Bitter Wheat tickets promise a very special theatre treat indeed!

Dark satire in the finest tradition

Bitter Wheat is some of the darkest satire to flow from the pen of David Mamet. Of course, he made his name with edgy and bleak, often nihilistic character dramas, and with Bitter Wheat he has turned up the vitriol. The play is even more scathing than his previous volley at the excesses of power in Hollywood, Speed-the-Plow. It carries none of the nuances of some of his earlier works like The Anarchist. Neither does it carry the pathos of China Doll. This is Mamet in rip-roaring attack dog mode, taking no prisoners and extracting the blackest humour from an irreparably corrupt character and his dealings with the world in general, and his industry in particular. In a telling scene, Malkovich's character corrects his PA, informing her that Hollywood doesn't turn dreams into money (an already cynical observation). No, he chides, we're just laundering money. If you enjoy Mamet at his sharpest, accompanied by one of the most accomplished character actors of his generation in Malkovich, get some Bitter Wheat tickets on StubHub before they inevitably sell out.