Cuckooed

for a previous production "A clever, funny and angry show. One that is imbued with genuine sadness too...Part of the power of this neatly crafted one-man show is the way it exposes how easily we believe and how hard it is to accept that we have been duped... His roots in standup are in evidence in his self-deprecating humour, but he also plays mischievously with the pretences of theatre as he explores the uses and misuses of deception and reminds us that you should never believe everything you are told." Full Review

for a previous production "This is political theatre at its very best. Thomas takes his audience through a tale of political activism and espionage that takes the breath away...The delivery is impassioned but lightened with underlying wit, which is necessary for such an important subject. The messages of this chilling production, expertly directed by Emma Callander, are all too clear. We could all be unwitting victims of this kind of spying." Full Review

for a previous production "Thomas is a raconteur par excellence, who has led a life so staggeringly righteous and exciting that pretty much every anecdote he launches into is gold. But he’s not yet a slick theatremaker, and ‘Cuckooed’ suffers from a certain lack of craftsmanship...A little more thought about the show’s arc and a little less chasing after key content two weeks ago could probably have elevated ‘Cuckooed’ from a heartfelt ramble to something more powerful." Full Review

for a previous production "He’s a gifted storyteller, and his affable blokey persona, underscored as it often is, with necessary anger works as well on the Traverse stage as it would in a comedy club. He knows just how to land a line, how to shade it, how to invest what he’s saying with emotional weight...This new piece feels more like his work of old, info-rich yet accessible in its activist agenda, but with the addition of something more personal and emotionally knotty at its heart." Full Review

for a previous production "All that Thomas does, over an hour, is to make a brilliant job of telling this sad tale of activism and betrayal, and of a friendship lost. In Emma Callander’s fluent production, though, he does it in irresistible style, funny, self-deprecating, infinitely accessible, eloquent in its use of film and video, but never overwhelmed by it. And by the end of the show, he is asking hard, passionate questions to which every citizen of the UK should have an answer." Full Review

for a previous production "Stand-up comedian and activist Mark Thomas is now mixing the personal with his more customary political terrain. 'Cuckooed' is a comic monologue about being spied upon while agitating against the arms industry. And what makes this even richer than Thomas’s earlier political shows is not the sure showmanship, the anger and the issues — though they are all there — but the emotional intelligence and sense of vulnerability that lingers on." Full Review

for a previous production "Thomas tells this tale with the skill, wit and passion one has come to expect from him in a piece that is part stand-up, part-dramatic monologue...As he comes to the end Thomas broadens the story out to talk about spying on individuals in general. It feels a little gratuitous, but then it grows to make a very powerful and chilling point" Full Review

for a previous production "Mark Thomas is the most intelligent of the modern leftist standups: impassioned, a practical activist emotionally driven but capable of rich mockery of himself, his confreres and the absurdity and illogic which threatens all human endeavours, even (or especially) the most sincere. In this riveting, headlong narrative there are plenty of laughs...Outrage,sadness, humour, and an underlying solid decency: whatever your politics and pragmatisms, an unmissable hour." Full Review

for a previous production "Thomas makes the abstract personal with this engrossing tale of betrayal...'Cuckooed' is a straight monologue, carried entirely by Thomas’s brilliant ability to bring every story to vivid life, while making political points and vocalising his conflicting feelings about the treachery...Maybe this show will give him some sort of closure. It certainly gives the audience plenty of food for thought, once they’ve finished laughing." Full Review

for a previous production "'Cuckooed' is more than just comedy theatre. It is thought-provoking storytelling that holds the audience’s attention with aggression and passion...It is an emotional journey that Thomas takes us on and this makes 'Cuckooed' a powerful and important story to tell." Full Review

for a previous production "Mark Thomas's new show is in the theatre section of the Fringe brochure, but this hour, full of laughs and witty lines as it is, could easily be under the heading of comedy...'Cuckooed' is a masterful piece of storytelling and an engrossing hour...Emma Callander directs a neatly constructed and riveting hour." Full Review

for a previous production "Uncomfortable as it is at times to watch, ‘Cuckooed’ is a very funny show about a serious, indeed deadly, business...This is vintage Mark Thomas – seriously funny in all the best senses, and as he so often is, bang on the money." Full Review

for a previous production "His eye for the absurd and sharp sense of irony makes for an engaging hour. But there's a predictability to the story, not helped by the premature exposition of Martin as a suspected spy, which builds to a rather unsatisfying denouement. Perhaps Thomas hopes to inspire us to grab a D-lock and head for the nearest arms fair. But my overriding emotion was a crushing sadness at the pointlessness of protest." Full Review

for a previous production "There was no need for bandstands, there was no need to think of faraging the bin in an effort to feel productive or proactive after the show, this was just a performance in which to share the pain, to dissolute it if possible by laughing with Mark Thomas, but understanding what can only be described as grief wrapped up in a bellyful of laughter. A stirring and emotional night of pure brave genius." Full Review