STAGE
Fastest Clock In The Universe,
Hampstead Theatre
3/5
IN A NUTSHELL
In this revival of Philip Ridley's black comedy, a mock birthday party is laced with menace.
REVIEW
Early on in this production, Captain Tock screams out the window. He frightens the birds that occupy the decaying former fur factory in the East End where he lives with narcissistic psychopath Cougar Glass. The screeching of the birds is exquisite and irritating, frantic and menacing.
It is, therefore, typical of Philip Ridley's 1992 unsettling black comedy.
Ridley's portrayal of the destructive homosexual relationship between the middle-aged and balding Tock (a compelling Finbar Lynch) and the self-involved peacock Glass (Alec Newman) has echoes of Orton/Halliwell as imagined by Pinter.
Tock is revolted by his role as the monster's aid yet he is unwilling to rid himself of the hunk of beef sizzling under the sun lamp who lends to him a fleeting sense of worth. Glass requires only to be serviced in his delusion of eternal youth.
As they prepare for Glass's latest 19th birthday party with fake cards, cake and bottles of vodka they fence and bicker like a sick Steptoe And Son in the darkened junk shop of a home surrounded by Tock's stuffed birds and knick-knacks.
Atrophy and cruelty are everywhere, not least in Glass's black heart but also embodied by ageing lank-haired neighbour Cheetah Bee (Eileen Page), wrapped in her fur coat like a '40s Miss Havisham.
In contrast, guest of honour at the mock celebrations is the youthful and exuberant 15-year-old Foxtrot Darling (Neet Mohan) whom the predatory Glass has groomed with sick efficiency.
But Foxtrot has a birthday surprise of his own, bringing in tow the teetering, screeching Sherbert Gravel (a pitch perfect Jaime Winstone). Her fearless unpicking of Glass's fragile self-deception is the comic heartbeat of the production which manages to be both pitch black and gaudy at the same time.
Until October 17.
