★★★★★ CUTTINGS
There's an old adage in PR that the press release should have
the name/brand of your client and the story in the first line. Therefore mine
would read, 'Ollie George Clark's new play Cuttings, opens at Islington's Hope Theatre
and is a complete five-star must-see triumph.' Sadly I'm not doing the PR, but
effectively that's my review in a nutshell - need I write more?
 |
| Ollie George Clark |
OK, Cuttings is about 'YouTuber turned actor Arthur Moses wins
an Olivier Award, and moments later goes on to drunkenly deliver the most
offensive, outrageous and profanity-laden speech in the ceremony's history'.
For offensive, read the c-word several times and everything else in between,
broadcast live on the BBC – poor Auntie!
 |
| Joan Potter |
'His publicists Gracelyn, Ruchi and Danica have quite a morning
ahead of them. They'll need to apologise on his behalf all while fielding
calls, defusing social media, stamping out print, handling the talent, licking
SOLT's wounds and if Arthur could stop posting on Instagram for a second that
would be great.' Cuttings is a real-time master class in crisis management,
dealing with an ego more massive than any plus-size and outsmarting and
outmanoeuvring the assembled media - social, print and broadcast. Do they
succeed, as always no spoilers here?
 |
| Maisie Preston |
Ollie George Clark has written the PR-version of the Devil Wears
Prada, and I would dearly love to know which PR professionals/consultancy
Cuttings is based upon, as it is brilliantly observed, tightly constructed and
the dialogue is achingly precise.
 |
| Natasha Patel |
Leading the team of three PR-professionals - what is the
collective noun for PRs - that make up
the ensemble is Gracelyn played to perfection by Joan Potter who is the
quintessential agency head with a black book of contacts to die for and a mind
more devious than Machiavelli. Potter's performance is as if she just left an
agency and headed over to play herself in the theatre, spot-on brilliance.
Maisie Preston as Danica, the younger, greener 'account executive' is terribly
well travelled and place-drops incessantly – Bolivia, Nepal, Kuala Lumpur,
Mozambique, but once again plays her with dippy naivete that is captivatingly
sublime. Completing the triumvirate is Ruchi, the experienced account director
compelling and engagingly played by Natasha Patel. These three actors are a
complete joy to watch - gloriously forceful, compellingly credible and utterly
authentic.
Rob Ellis's direction is defined, pacey, and superbly well-observed. But ultimately it's Ollie George Clark's sparkling writing that makes
Cuttings such a gem, and I can only hope that the work has a life beyond the
Hope. Let's trust Sir Howard Panter comes calling for a Trafalgar Studios
transfer and, if there isn't an Offie-nom soon, I'm cancelling my sub to The
Stage!
Absolutely fabulous!
Cuttings
writer OLLIE GEORGE CLARK / director ROB ELLIS
4 - 22 June
7.45pm
£15/£12
Tues to Sat only. No show Sun/Mon.
The Hope Theatre, 207 Upper Street, Islington N1 IRL
The Hope Theatre, 207 Upper Street, Islington N1 IRL
For tickets click here https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/207-upper-street/the-hope-theatre/cuttings/e-mkborp
Check out Tom Hartwell's London Theatre Podcast https://www.thelondontheatrepodcast.com/
for an exclusive interview with Ollie George Clark and Rob Ellis
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