Watching Billy Crudup in Harry Clarke was mesmerising. One of the best plays I’ve ever seen and wildly impressive, given it’s just him and a deckchair on stage for one hour and twenty minutes playing 19 different characters. I would urge you to go and see it at the Ambassador Theatre before it finishes on the 11th May. This brilliantly clever and funny one-man show, written by David Cale – a British born but American based writer is a MUST SEE play. I LOVED IT.
I’ll be honest – Billy Crudup himself was a massive draw for me and my girlfriend who loved him as Corey Ellison in “The Morning Show” and he did not disappoint. The play tells the story of a timid Midwestern man named Philip Brugglestein who reinvents himself into the charming and audacious “British” man named Harry Clarke. His shift from the jittery, anxious Philip to the confident wide boy chancer, Harry Clarke is truly remarkable. His whole body changes – even his face and as we get deeper into the story of his childhood and his father, the whole thing begins to take on a far more sinister angle.
Directed by Leigh Silverman and transferred from Broadway, the play has been likened to Saltburn in a Ripley-esque sort of way – focusing on the threatening cuckoo that climbs into the nest and proceeds to cause havoc. Harry worms his way into the unwitting orbit of the rich Schmidt family – but the difference with this story is that we are invited inside Philip’s head and get to “understand” the reasons behind his alter ego. We are taken on a ride whereby we are encouraged to feel relatively sympathetic as to how he got himself embroiled in the first place with the hapless, confused, drug addicted Mark Schmidt. It’s very cleverly written because whilst it’s dark and his involvement with this overprivileged family was probably never going to turn out well – we don’t see him entirely as the villain and the play is lightened with lots of funny lines which Crudup delivers with perfect comic timing.
The story unfolds on a bare stage – with only a single wooden folding chair and table with a glass of water on it as a prop and the man himself. It’s a daunting proposition for any actor, but Crudup plays the 19 different characters with chameleonic aplomb. I can’t quite believe it’s that many different voices – but each shift is impeccable – he doesn’t once get any of them confused – and whilst he’s had a serious amount of criticism for his English accent – I think it’s unfair of the critics to focus on that element. His performance is exceptional and if Harry’s accent is a little bit off here and there then it’s because Harry himself is making up his own East End accent – having admitted he’s never even been in London.
He plays the female characters brilliantly – the mother Ruth, who loves Sade and has a penchant for uncircumcised penis’s (one of the best jokes of the night). He even has to sing a relatively painful song whilst playing Mark’s spoilt sister – an excruciatingly bad wannabe singer and coquettish female who also gives us one of the best laughs via her “Hanukkah present from my girlfriends!”
After the show you could see a crowd of fans all waiting to see him leave the building – I was disappointed my girlfriend didn’t let me hang around!
