I've just had a few days in the capital, mostly for work but with a bit of pleasure thrown in. Most notable in the latter category was last night at the San Francisco Bath House in Cuba St (just up from Floriditas), for a production of David Mamet's Sexual Perversity in Chicago.

And a very good and well acted production it was too. I'd seen one Mamet before, a professional production in Sydney that wasn't nearly as good as this. Unlike last night the accents were all over the place.

This is vintage Mamet, cruel, street-wise and very, very funny. Allan Henry as Bernie shines bright, but he also has most of the best lines.

Another star in this show is the stage, or rather the Bath House bar itself, which is used brilliantly.

Perversity was first produced in 1974. Now I'm not sure if this was Mamet's intention, but there is a very funny scene transition, where Deborah (Amy Waller) is pondering relationships and is asking about what these "signify", or something like that. There is a sharp cut to the next scene where Bernie enters exclaiming "Tits and ass! Tits and ass!" I wondered whether Mamet was already serving it up to the postmodern aesthetic that was emerging at the time.

The production has a week to run - get along to it.

A 1997 Salon interview with Mamet is here and a 2007 one here.