Cuckooed NYC Reviews and Tickets

"Thankfully, Thomas is neither a pedagogue nor a preacher, but an amiable comedian asking some important questions...This synthesis of performance art and investigative journalism will appeal to many theatergoers...Martin never agreed to speak with Thomas for this show, so his motivations remain a mystery, giving 'Cuckooed' the feeling of a work in progress…'Cuckooed' is surprisingly full of heart."
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"With superb direction by Emma Callandar, this fast moving show will keep you on the edge of your seat... 'Cuckooed' has a remarkably original premise. The show mirrors real life events with humor, passion and veracity. Thomas is a true talent whose performance is exciting, energetic and completely entertaining...This is a one-of-a-kind show that is truly captivating."
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"'Cuckooed' shines a fascinating light on the world of British political activism...Thomas' hurt and confusion are made vividly real...Still, it's hard not to feel that we're getting only a small portion of the story, and the more we hear about Martin, the more fascinating he becomes, at the expense of everyone else…Thomas makes a fascinating host, even if his anger tends to overrule his attempts at wit...'Cuckooed' provides plenty of food for thought."
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"Written by Thomas and skillfully directed by Emma Callander, 'Cuckooed,' with its breakneck pace and devastating subject matter, shows Thomas’ skill as a deeply personal storyteller with the ability to stir righteous indignation in his audience."
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"In 'Cuckooed,' Thomas relives his ordeal and puts its consequences very much in the present. Martin has never attempted to explain his activities, but the 'why' is not the point of the show. Instead, this is Thomas' successful bid to get us to invest and empathize with a very personal story of activism, camaraderie, and the long-term and far-reaching effects of deception."
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"'Cuckooed' often does go on and on much like the creature of its title and one can understand an audience member drifting off here and there. But perhaps that is the point…He is energetic, fully committed, and engaging in every way. His solo performance is a powerful tour de force whether it is theatre or lecture and it is worth the visit. With meticulous direction by Emma Callander, 'Cuckooed' is deliciously brimming with the tactics Mr. Thomas has used to fight for justice."
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"This interactive media show with his live solo performance is a revelation, with immense scope and power. Its themes reverberate today. Their currency is dynamic and terrifying. Thomas portrays himself throughout the production. He is sardonic, funny, prophetic, mesmerizing and profound. His account has the relevance of court testimony…The production is sardonic and at times outright funny."
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"Mark Thomas’ performance is wildly imaginative and energetic, and the show has surprising depth…Mr. Thomas traffics in a fierce honesty…'Cuckooed' ends up being touching, because of the singular act of betraying a trust...Mr. Thomas’ accent was hard for some people to understand, but the effort is well worth it."
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"The show’s core narrative, a kind of loss-of-innocence story, gives the show an emotional spine that makes it a true theater piece rather than just an evening of politically-oriented standup...Thomas does not paint a rosy picture of an activist’s life, nor does he attempt to flatter the audience with the good news that we can make the world a better place. He does, however, provide an honest, and ultimately moving glimpse of life in the trenches."
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"What Thomas does so well is that instead of exploiting that fear for a cheap reaction, he makes you feel comfortable with the idea of standing up to it, to look at in the face and laugh. That it is fine to be hurt as long as you don’t let it keep you down, that it is only okay to move on if you come out stronger. And in doing so, he does something not many shows do, he makes you think both personally and generally about everything around you."
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"Callander keeps the pace fast, partly comic, mostly serious, with a strong tinge of outrage...This is Michael Moore on steroids...A lot of the play - a bit too much for outsiders - involves Thomas discussing with fellow campaigners their reactions to what Martin had done...Political theater has always been among the best theater, telling stories of the issues raised by political campaigners and activists. But in this case, stirring political theater is activism itself."
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"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."
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"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."
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"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."
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"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."
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"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."
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"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."
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"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."
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"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"
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"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."
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"'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."
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"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."
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"Mark Thomas delivers a blisteringly funny yet searingly powerful look into one of the many chapters in his life...'Cuckooed' is blisteringly funny, searingly powerful, totally thought provoking and pure brilliance. Thomas strikes gold yet again."
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"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."
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"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."
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"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."
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"Thomas’s energy never falters despite the serious subtext behind the humour. A wittily-crafted play, which, amongst the laughter, raises questions of the faith that the people place in government; who can we trust if everyone is spying on one another? The whole audience will have been cuckooed by Mark Thomas’s performance as his fearlessly funny investigation is brought to an end at the Traverse Theatre."
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"He is an engaging storyteller who is hilarious yet sensitive, and has an incredible thirst for fighting injustice in the world...Throughout the performance, which was laced with humour and poignancy, he was able to switch tones effortlessly, and all completely genuine. It is also impressive how he commands such stage presence for a one-man show. He draws you in with this fascinating tale, and leaves you feeling both reflective and inspired. Quite simply- brilliant."
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"Before the interval he assures each spectator that the second half of his performance is 'brilliant.' He does not disappoint...Throughout 'Cuckooed' unorthodox performance methods...The new methods modernise and rejuvenate the theatre experience as today’s audiences are encouraged to think interactively, holistically and altogether differently."
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"As a vehicle for his cry of rage, it works...But as a piece of theatre, one can't help but feel this is all a little superficial...'Cuckooed' feels a lot like a well-written and brilliantly researched newspaper feature, delivered live. It's not a masterclass in stagecraft. But it's reasonable to wonder whether this actually matters when dealing with issues so fundamental to the functioning of our democracy."
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"'Cuckooed' was gripping from start to finish and was so well executed that it was easy to forget for a moment that the events portrayed were more than simply a story created for the stage. That is, until the ending, which came somewhat abruptly in a flurry of shaky camera footage. The moment the performance ended felt like a blurry eyed awakening but as one fellow audience member so aptly put it, the hoped-for resolution could never come, ‘because this is real life.'"
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"The show itself could hardly have been more clever. As the evidence piled up, the capacity audience grew almost as angry as Thomas himself. Somehow, though, for all the hurt and betrayal, Thomas found rich seams of humour and mined them relentlessly. Both thought-provoking and hilarious, Thomas is always worth twice the asking price."
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"Mark Thomas successfully involves us in his sense of outrage. There is a lot of exposition here. Yet the subject matter is desperately important, and Mark is right to use his great presentational skills to make us attend to the scandal of this issue. His outrage is fully justified and he presents his case very cogently. The show is, of course, leavened with the usual Thomas humour. If you go along to this you will find a formidable campaigner in top form, and you will be left with much to discuss."
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"We are presented with a glorified, albeit interesting, lecture...The piece would have been much more gripping if it had been more theatrical. I hope the show develops in this direction, because the issues it raises are of fundamental importance and need to be debated."
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"A compelling two hours of performance; a foray into the intoxicating excitement of political activism, the examination of a friend’s betrayal and the boundaries between truth and deception...The sense of raw, incomprehensible betrayal is palpable and raises questions not only about personal duplicity, but the potential betrayal of the state with its citizens’ data."
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"He may have made his name with agitprop comedy but ‘Cuckooed’ sees Mark Thomas deliver on his promise as a theatre maker...By the end of the searing performance it’s difficult to know who to trust, as the state is found to be complicit in a host of similar betrayals."
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