Daniel March 15th, 2024
After a marvelously successful run in New York, Billy Crudup has arrived in the West End to reprise his 'tour de force performance' in David Cale's one-man thriller, as the unscrupulous Harry Clarke. Pitch dark, comic, and creepy, Crudup embodies the nearly 20 characters that make up this multilayered portrait of the enigmatic Clarke. With the play now open, the reviews have come pouring in.
Harry Clarke is an alter ego of ambitious midwesterner Philip. About as far as you can get from Indiana, Harry Clarke is a braggadocious Londoner who flits and flirts between cockney and posh accents in an attempt to seduce wealthy New Yorkers out of their cash. As their infatuation grows for this appealing stranger, the imposter gets a little too comfortable with his charade, endangering his con, and ultimately blurring the line between fact and fiction to reach a shattering realization.
The Standard: "Crudup gives a beguiling performance and his presence here will delight established admirers"
Express: "I belly-laughed and was unexpectedly touched. It's a tonic from so much other self-regarding, navel-gazing worthiness in the theatre in London's West End. I cheered at the end"
Financial Times: "What's not in doubt is the slippery skill of Cale's writing and Crudup's consummate, magnetic performance. Directed by Leigh Silverman, he holds a near-empty stage just a deckchair and a horizon in Alexander Dodge's design zipping between characters, beguiling, charismatic and sinister. If he's conning us, we're quite happy to be charmed"
Attitude: "It's become a trend of late for stars to take on multiple parts on the London stage, like Andrew Scott in Vanya, Sarah Snook in Dorian Gray, and Sarah Jessica Parker in Plaza Suite. Like the latter, Harry Clarke is a slight story which I'm sort of grateful for because stories of queer sexual exploration often get dark and doomy but it's powered by a titanic performance that deserves every award going"
The Times: "Billy Crudup is hypnotic in one-man conman tale"
Timeout: "It's trashily entertaining and Crudup is magnetic. Certainly, if you're on a big Saltburn' comedown this will give you your next creepy little guy hit, no problem"
