Smallest Theatre – Biggest Talent

What a treat.

One of London’s smallest theatres (seats 406 – minimal legroom, two tiny ladies’ toilets for the whole of the stalls) is currently playing host to one of the US acting world’s biggest talents.

If you want to see Billy Crudup in a masterclass audition for nearly every other role in the world of theatre and film, we’d recommend you get to the Ambassador’s Theatre so you can say you experienced his one-man monologue there first.

Crudup – best known to UK audiences for his role in Apple TV’s The Morning Show - is playing the protagonist in ‘Harry Clarke’ at the theatre until May 11, 2024 – a role he’s been perfecting in David Cale’s one-man show on and off since 2017.

His fast-moving accents, as he spans multiple (we lost count – it’s more than 15) characters in this engrossing one-person show, are extraordinary.

But his real skill is in the physicality of his performance as he literally appears to change stature and size to portray the panoply of people featured in this 80-minute story of one man’s evolution from small child in the American mid-West to (spoiler alert) serpentine wannabe Seycellois.

Tens of thousands of A’ level students are familiar with Jay Gatsby’s inability to return to the past or to move on. Cale’s script subverts that concept, with Crudup embodying a man with a horrific hidden past forced to embrace a future he both desires and fears.

Harry Clarke offers its audience a unique combination of short-form theatre with a stellar performance.

Where many screen and TV actors struggle to be heard in a live environment, Crudup has absolute command of the venue, expertly conducting his audience, traversing humour and horror with ease and charm.  His personification and articulation are second to none – this is a performance that’s worth making the journey to see.

This is a bijou theatre, but staff at the Ambassador’s Theatre are there to help guests from areas outside the theatre, there’s a state-of-the-art lift for people with disabilities and new accessible toilet facilities right next to the bar.

There will be an Audio Described Performance on 27th March 27 at 7:30pm and a Captioned Performance on April 10th 2024 at 7:30pm. For full access information see https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/harry-clarke/ambassadors-theatre/#access