Harry Clarke - Ambassadors

[BurlyBeaR]

Mar 27, 2024 8:07:46 GMT mbasilakis said:

Mar 26, 2024 9:00:57 GMT clarefh said:

I have a ticket for this on the notice board for this Sat (stalls row B £20) incase anyone is interested

As I am new to the forum, I am not sure where in the noticeboard this is but I am interested if it's still available.

That ticket has been sold now. For future reference you can find the Noticeboard link on the home page, scroll down its near to the bottom. 

[clarefh]

Apologies for not updating the thread!

[capybara]

Billy Crudup masterfully takes on 19 characters, male and female, in this whirlwind of a one-man play. And despite the overall direction of the script lacking any real depth, the star of The Morning Show is an engrossing watch.

Any show that runs to 80 minutes with no interval gets a big thumbs-up from me (and I can think of a fair few I’ve seen recently that might have benefited from such succinctness). Crudup is totally absorbing as an American whose double-life as a British record producer spirals into the pretty wild conning of a wealthy New Yorker family.

It matters not whether he is portraying the charismatic, confident and utterly fictional Harry Clarke or a young female musician, Crudup is sublime. In fact, he never fluffed a line or mixed his accents - however, while I’m sure the various British accents (ranging from Stewie Griffin to Danny Dyer) passed in the US run of this show, some words of phrases did leave him a little exposed at times.

But the fact his character is faking his British identity acts as a cover for any ropey accents, even if not explicitly referenced in the show. But take nothing away from Crudup, not many could have pulled off that performance.

I love a one-person show and count Jodie Comer’s Prima Facie and Sophie Melville’s Iphigenia in Splott among the most powerful theatrical performances I’ve ever seen. This put me more in mind of Shirley Valentine, which - like Harry Clarke - was entertaining enough but fell short of being a genuinely brilliant script and Crudup matches Sheridan Smith for papering over the cracks and delivering a memorable performance.

I think it’s time to rewatch the first series of The Morning Show. Captivating.

Three stars.

[iwanttix]

I saw the matinee today and loved it. I think it's probably the best one man play I've seen and I was surprised with how good Billy Crudup was (I only really knew him from Almost Famous). Lots of laughs from the audience at the appropriate places. I was worried about the height of the stage but as he was standing for most of it I just got a bit of neck ache.

[thistimetomorrow]

Mar 26, 2024 9:00:57 GMT clarefh said:

I have a ticket for this on the notice board for this Sat

Thanks to Clare for the ticket to see this tonight! I really enjoyed the show and thought Billy was great, but did think the piece would be darker than it was. capybara's review above definitely says most of my thoughts.

[Steve]

Saw this tonight and LOVED it.

I agree with the positive reviews above that it's superb storytelling superbly told.

Crudup captivates throughout, and I found the story gripping, though whether it actually amounts to anything is another thing entirely.

Some spoilers follow. . .

In a way, this is a little similar to the Dorian Gray play, with no technology lol.

In both, an actor plays a character without a firm grip on identity, and the actor assumes many different characters and identities through the course of the story, all while you worry that the increasing sense of liberation, that the central character the actor is playing feels, will lead to an almighty crash at some point.

The difference is that the Dorian Gray play has a meta-subtext about technology taking over and erasing our lives, whereas this piece is more surface, less deep.

On the other hand, this piece is much more human and warm, in that all the excitable characters (and they are all delightfully excitable) are played live by a human being, and that human being, Billy Crudup, oozes charismatic daring and possibility constantly and compellingly.

Like others in this thread, I was surprised (and ultimately really pleased) that this is not as dark a piece as I was expecting, given that dark pieces like this have been done to death. And the only dark piece like this I currently want to see stars the world's most flexible, brilliant and unpredictable actor, Andrew Scott (in an adaptation of the high priestess of dark, Patricia Highsmith's "Ripley") on Netflix.

Compared to what I expect that to be like, this is more like a joyous coming out story of one lonely man, like "Heartstopper," though it follows thriller-like tropes as a kind of tease.

Crudup is a joy from start to finish, relishing the excitability of his characters, and while the story itself may not be a comedy, there is some marvellous meta-comedy and genuine humour in all the occasions Crudup is ostensibly playing two characters flirting with each other but is in fact flirting with himself. He is peak funny when playing the coyness of a female character deeply attracted to the macho male character his timid male character is pretending to be. He nails every layer of this complex comic scenario.

So, although the meaning of the story never really amounts to much, the beats of the story are about as fun as a story gets. I had 4 and a half stars of fun.

[alessia]

Enjoyed this very much last night- had no expectations at all and went blind. Not much to add to the previous comments, just that this was a lot of fun and Crudrup is fantastic. I was in the middle of the front row and yes the stage is high but I never felt uncomfortable looking up even tho I’m short.

[jm25]

I thought this was wonderful. Billy Crudup was magnetic and he did a really great job at carving out separate, distinct characters.

I was actually quite taken aback by how dark it was. As much as it is a very funny piece (in large part thanks to Crudup’s performance), the humour always felt like a mask to the darkness bubbling underneath. At times it felt like watching Gollum talking to Smeagol in Lord of the Rings! Brilliant.

[mkb]

I was not familiar with the name Billy Crudup, although that's my failing, as an imdb.com search shows that I have seen him in minor roles in a handful of films. I took the view that anyone with the balls to stage a one-man play in the West End, and where the seats (£35 front row) were affordable, unlike some others -- looking at you Sarah Snook -- was worth a punt. So, I go in with no idea what to expect.

In the opening minute, I feel myself teetering. This could be spectacularly bad. But, no, that line there was funny. As was that one. And the voices/accents. They're not spot-on, but they're good enough. And this man has charisma. He's infectious. The story is actually interesting, if not exactly original. Throughout, I want to know what happens next. Very quickly I am hooked, and the mesmerising story-telling journey flies by.

What a stage presence Crudup has! Without wishing to be unkind, he has an actor's face rather than classical good looks, but this works to his advantage as he inhabits each of the personalities of the tale.

My only complaint was that the set designer has seen fit to build up a wooden strutted perfomance platform that is about 50cm above stage height. Quite why, I have no idea. It seems a pointless expense that serves only to obscure Crudup's legs from the knee down for those at the front.

Four stars.

One act: 19:34-20:52
(Seen on Tuesday 9 April 2024)

[pws]

It is a thoroughly engaging story and a brilliant performance, and not to be missed, if you can catch it.