London theater this summer: John Malkovich in David Mamet’s ‘Bitter Wheat’

I wish I could say, Mamet’s back! I was hoping his new play, Bitter Wheat, starring the much missed John Malkovich, would be a return to the nasty, nifty dialogue of Speed-the-Plow, his earlier play about Hollywood’s depravity. Or a return to the nasty and troubling ambiguity of Oleanna, his earlier play about predatory men (if he is) and victimized women (if she is).

Instead we get a highly entertaining nasty one-note cavalcade of venality. You’ll laugh and you’ll hate yourself for laughing.

Barney Fein is an obvious stand-in for Harvey Weinstein. The character is a fabulously wealthy movie mogul, an amoral sexual predator who is self-consciously fat ( Malkovich is wearing a fat suit).

He’s Viagra-addicted and a nonstop talker, unable to listen to what anyone tells him (“Your mother is dead”). And he wields (bribe, buy, threaten) without a qualm. “Yes, I know I have molested actresses. Who has not?”

His secretary (Doon Mackichan) tolerates him beyond belief as does his dopey young assistant. (His uncle is a film critic).

A young actress (Ionna Kimbook) arrives, exhausted after 27 hours on a plane from Seoul, and he tries to negotiate her movie career for sex. Act 2 moves into the absurd as a couple of new characters turn up.

Once the Korean actress calls the cops, it’s all over for Barney Fein — or maybe not.

Garrick Theatre, London, through Sept. 21.