A Lesson From John Malkovich In Bitter Wheat | The Great Acting Blog

 

I stopped going to the theatre a few years back because so much of what I saw was dead. Theatres had become museums; places where we go to see re-creations of classic plays. I seemed to spend most of my time fighting to stay awake or trying to get comfortable in my seat, or coughing. The staging was meaningless, and the acting was whatever the opposite of electric is.

Not so Bitter Wheat, David Mamet’s latest, which he describes as a black farce. The play centres on a Weinsteinesque movie producer, Barney Fein, described as “a bloated monster — a studio head, who like his predecessor, the minotaur, devours the young he has lured into his cave.”  Bitter Wheat is brilliant and brilliantly done.

John Malkovich’s performance as Fein is a masterpiece of stage acting; precise, true and intense. The physical dimension to it is bold and provocative – he employs it to give expression to the character’s wretched frustrations and barely-contained tantrums.  Barney Fein is profoundly revolting; a liar and a cheat, he’s rapacious, avaricious, cynical and a rapist. And yet, Malkovich renders this preposterous bad man engaging and compelling, even vulnerable. He collected many laughs from the audience, and some boos too – but they hung on his every word.

Above all, however, Malkovich was having fun on stage. Admittedly, the role is a brilliant one written by Mamet, but Malkovich made choices that are compelling to him. His desire to communicate and commune with the audience was obvious, and the audience reacted in kind.  Malkovich goes for it. In short, his performance was electric.

What is the lesson then?

Perhaps this. An actor, who, at the age of 65, one who’s seen and done it all before after working for more than 40 years, still cares. When so many actors just seem to go through the motions, giving nothing, it is inspiring to see an actor of Malkovich’s stature choose to invest himself absolutely in his work.

We might do the same.

 

 

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