Harry Clarke NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (293)
See it if Billy Crudup is astounding. A tour-de-force performance of a masterful script. Probably the best solo performance of the year. A masterclass
Don't see it if You don’t like one person shows or want elaborate staging. It’s all acting...
See it if Billy Crudup plays an amazing array of characters in this one-man drama, snapping from one to another in a split second. Extraordinary!
Don't see it if You don't like engaging, off-beat drama, unusual stories or have a closed mind.
See it if you want to see a master actor at the top of his game playing multiple roles in an utterly original play about losing/finding ones' identity
Don't see it if you are homphobic.
See it if You wanna be captivated by one fine actor working his craft to the Nth degree - Hurry B4 it closes
Don't see it if your easily confused when one actor switches accents and mannerisms to denote different characters
See it if You want to see a master actor at the top of his craft tell you an engaging, intriguing story that has you at the edge of your seat.
Don't see it if You expect a classical story or need to see a lavish production. This is one man on a bare stage.
See it if you want to see a virtuoso in a tour-de-force performance. Billy Crudup is wonderful - charming, funny and sexy. A super fun night out.
Don't see it if you don't like solo shows.
See it if You enjoy a wide variety of theatrical experiences, inc. shows with only one performer. Certainly see it if you are a fan of Billy Crudup.
Don't see it if I can't think of any reason not to see it, unless you really hate one man shows & only enjoy big, flashy spectacles . Read more
See it if you want to see Billy Crudup give what is possibly the performance of his career. Also, be on the look out for any new work by David Cale.
Don't see it if you don't like one-person shows or if you have difficulty focusing on one actor playing a variety of roles.
Critic Reviews (41)
“Through David Cale's new play ‘Harry Clarke,’ we see how Brugglestein—portrayed by the sensational Billy Crudup—transforms into Harry Clarke...Crudup fills out the character and the messiness of coping with a traumatic childhood...In ‘Harry Clarke’ the story unfolds in sensitive, thrilling stories told by Crudup…Original music also written by Cale adds a refreshing element that helps distinguish Harry Clarke from many of Billy Crudup's other performances.”
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“Crudup can mug with the best of them in the different characters he assumes in this one-man show so cleverly written by Cale. It’s not the distinctive voicing of females or males, but the physical and emotional subtlety he swiftly assumes as he morphs into each...All unfolds through the vivid performance skills of an amazing Crudup relating this outrageous story that is both funny and sexually charged...This is a dazzling piece of writing directed by the exceptional hand of Silverman.”
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“'Harry Clarke' reminded me once again that Billy Crudup is a terrific actor...That was what this production did for me. This was enough in an of itself, but it could have been so much more...Cale’s text is lacking in connectivity, and Silverman’s direction does little enhance the written word. This train is being powered entirely by the good intentions and determination of Crudup...While Crudup is more than inspiring to watch, I wish he had had material and direction that allowed him to soar.”
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"Billy Crudup is nothing short of ravishing in the titular role, embodying a host of characters as he recounts a tale of seduction and deceit. There’s a fluidity to his acting that is both unsettling and engrossing, as he transforms from an imposing midwesterner to an artsy young woman in the blink of an eye. Director Leigh Silverman moves Crudup around the stage in a dance that becomes remarkable in its specificity."
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“Cale’s exciting ‘Harry Clarke’ is a magnificently fun ride to take with Crudup, who is given numerous great moments and thrilling acting choices...Crudup is magnetic, holding our attention completely...He keeps us leaning in nervously as we try to figure out where this play is heading...Directed by the wonderful Silverman, the piece drives forward with an anxious edge that borders on excitement, tension, and fear of discovery.”
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“As a piece of psychology, I’m not sure it hangs together. As a piece of writing, there’s not a lot new here, although Cale and Crudup bring plenty of gusto and plenty of brash sexiness to a somewhat familiar story. But as a character study and a piece of acting, it’s enormously fun, with dizzying layers when Crudup is playing Philip being Harry recounting Mark mimicking his sister or mother. Cale and Crudup have nailed the speech patterns of the Schmidt family...A trifle, but an entertaining one.”
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"A complex and engaging psychological study...Cale’s script is carefully developed: it has a well-defined dramatic arc and it features interesting and well-developed characters with engaging and believable conflicts...Under Silverman’s astute and unobtrusive direction, Crudup engages in a dramatic battle with the script and comes up the clear victor, unearthing Mr. Cale’s treasures and bringing Harry Clarke to life with inexorable energy and irrepressible wit."
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"It takes a charismatic performance by the talented Mr. Crudup to make something undeniably entertaining out of Cale’s familiar and improbable yarn...What’s underneath 'Harry Clarke' feels incidental to what’s on its surface. Director Leigh Silverman smartly puts her trust in Crudup...Theatergoers might still side with Harry, for the same reason that the Schmidts are willingly deceived and exploited. We are seduced by the performance."
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