| Billy Crudup is so good here, so dazzling really, that it's a while before you realize the play is equally exact in its depiction of a kind of defensive, global impersonation that results from fear and shame. Crudup'a character wills himself literally into another life so that he can experience parts of himself that are otherwise inaccessible. Some people drink for this purpose; others act. Apart from being meticulously entertaining, HARRY CLARKE reminds us that life is sometimes so unbearable that only the habit of imagination can provide relief and a degree of transformation. Crudup expertly navigates between a number of characters, all of whom are secretly lost. His work is so rigorous and precise that he conjures not only persons but entire environments. It's master class level acting about master class level acting; the former is exhilarating while the latter is deeply strange and, finally, just very sad. |
