We’ve got good news today for anyone who’s taken a long, hard look at the last four months of sexual harassment coverage in Hollywood—from the revelations about Harvey Weinstein, to the tidal wave of accusations that followed in its wake, to the rise of the #MeToo movement—and thought, “Boy, I sure would love to know what a bunch of fast-talking fictional Chicago tough guys might think about all this.” Per a recent Chicago Tribune profile, writer David Mamet is here to help you, ridiculous person we just made up, noting that he’s got a freshly written play about Weinstein just waiting to hit the stage.
Mamet—who was promoting his new novel, Chicago—mentions the play only in passing, stating that his Broadway agent suggested he write it. This isn’t the first time he’s tackled a real-world case of harassment, either; his 1992 work Oleanna, about a woman who accuses a college professor of harassment and assault, was largely seen as a response to Anita Hill’s accusations against Clarence Thomas.
“I think about this a lot now. I have a bunch of daughters, a young son,” Mamet told the Tribune. “Every society has to confront the ungovernable genie of sexuality and tries various ways to deal with it and none of them work very well. There is great difficulty when you are switching modes, which we seem to be doing now. People go crazy. They start tearing each other to bits.”
There’s no word yet on when, or if, Mamet’s Weinstein play—titled Bitter Harvest—might see the light of day. Currently, he’s working on a screen adaptation of Don Winslow’s police corruption novel The Force, for James Mangold.