David Mamet has been a celebrated playwright ... He was pinning it down like a butterfly and diagramming it. “Henry Johnson” is the film version of a Mamet play that premiered in Los Angeles ...

By David Rooney Chief Film Critic There’s no ... That makes it a pleasure to be reminded, in Henry Johnson’s attention-grabbing opening, of Mamet at the peak of his considerable powers.

Adapted from his play of the same name, which premiered in Los Angeles in 2023 before mounting a Chicago production this spring, “Henry Johnson” unfolds over the course of four two-handed scenes.

Not so many, however, can boast that merely mentioning them constitutes a sort of trigger warning, but here’s one: David Mamet.

For a few weeks, the venue also played home to something increasingly rare: a new play from David Mamet ... The play, titled “Henry Johnson,” was viewed by some as a reaction to those ...