Review: HARRY CLARKE at Berkeley Rep

Would that we could all disassociate from our childhood traumas and morph into bold, confident self-creations. For young Philip Brugglestein life in rural South Bend, Indiana is a nightmare of paternal abuse and anti-gay bullying. His escape is talking in a Cockney accent culled from British movies, and after the death of his parents Philip moves to NYC and re-creates himself as Harry Clarke, replete with a fake history as tour manager for Sade.

In this West Coast premiere, Tony and Emmy Award-winning actor Billy Crudup re-unites with playwright David Cale to brilliantly portray a man living in the moment, moving with an immediacy of unfolding coincidences that provide both danger and humor. Philip is timid and uncertain, Harry is seductive, impetuous and a total charmer. After stalking Mark Schmidt just because, Harry embeds himself into the man’s family in an ever-escalating web of lies and deceits.

Crudup gives a mighty performance, able in the blink of an eye to morph into multiple characters from his dysfunctional parents to the Schmidt family members who are fascinated by him. Watching Crudup dance at a gay bar with a total stranger, practicing his come-on lines before a mirror or seducing Mark’s mother is a joy and a revelation of an actor at the top of his game. Cale’s script is crisp and thought-provoking. Is Clarke just a con man or is there something much deeper going on here? There’s a gay theme that moves throughout the piece, but Clarke makes the most of any situation like having sex with Mark’s sister and offering the mother a quickie. Cale has a keens sense of the absurd, having the mother say that cause she’s Jewish, she can’t suck an uncircumcised c*ckand she can’t eat shrimp. Crudup delivers these lines with self-assurance as Harry Clarke would.

Harry is self-aware, he knows what he’s doing and states that he’s “on a ride and can’t get off” and his modus operandi is to keep his “eyes on the road,” working his new reality to his benefit. It’s hard not to be charmed by Harry Clarke, but do so at your peril.       

Harry Clarke continues through December 23rd. For more information, please visit www.berkeleyrep.org or by calling the box office at 510-647-2949.

Photo Credit: Kevin Berne