The remaining four roles are unbelievably thin and, although the play has a few flicks of wit, it is unlikely to arouse the fierce passions of a piece like Oleanna simply because there is only one side to the argument. The best performance in MametвЂ™s production comes from Doon Mackichan, who invests FeinвЂ™s PA with an understated disdain, and Ioanna Kimbook plays Li with the right resilience. But, while Malkovich has shown in the past that he can humanise monsters, he can find little variety in a downright villain. He also raises some wry smiles as when he seeks to tempt the aspiring star вЂ“ who went to Cambridge and lives in Kent вЂ“ with promised roles in a Korean Gone With the Wind or a gay version of Anne Frank. He snickers maliciously and approaches Li like a snake about to swallow a rabbit. FeinвЂ™s protestations that he is unloved because heвЂ™s fat do nothing to kindle our sympathy.ДЇine actor though he is, Malkovich has to work overtime to invest a character who claims вЂњpeople are animalsвЂќ with any light and shade. Asked about the function of movies, his PA says: вЂњweвЂ™re merchandising dreamsвЂќ, to which Fein retorts вЂњWeвЂ™re laundering money.вЂќ Padded out round the middle, Malkovich appears mildly paunchy. Lacking the diabolical charisma of a Richard III or the glib smoothness of a Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses вЂ“ a part Malkovich famously played вЂ“ he simply comes across as a power-addicted predator of bottomless cynicism. Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The GuardianД«ut the main reason why this play is so ineffectual is that the hero is unrelievedly vicious.

Ioanna Kimbrook as Yung Kim Li and Doon Mackichan as Sondra in Bitter Wheat.

Stage plot pro 2.9.8 serial