Review: The Fastest Clock in the Universe, Studio at New Wimbledon Theatre

Philip Ridley has enjoyed something of a renaissance in recent years with several productions returning around London. Cellar Door Theatre Company now brings The Fastest Clock in the Universe to the Studio at New Wimbledon Theatre. Quite the contrast, I imagine, to Karate Kid The Musical playing the main house at the same time.

It is Cougar Glass’s (Frederick Russell) 19th birthday – or, more accurately, one of what appears to be a long series of 19th birthdays. Cougar has arranged for a very young man, Foxtrot Darling (Kim Whitmore), whom he has stalked and conned, to attend his party. Meanwhile, Captain Tock (Brian Aris), Cougar’s partner, is preparing the flat, cake and candles. Cougar has an intense fear of ageing, grey hairs are plucked, and the merest suggestion of his real age sends him into a full rolling-on-the-floor tantrum. He uses and abuses Captain Tock, with more than a few hints dropped that Cougar is effectively a kept man.

Cougar certainly looks the part, devastatingly good-looking, sitting under suntan lamps in his underwear as the audience enters. While this emphasises his physical appeal, it also feels like an essential element is a little lacking. Despite the in-your-face style of Ridley’s writing, there’s nuance, and the characters feel real. Yet here, there isn’t a glimpse of any real charm or magnetism from Russell that makes Cougar’s manipulation of Foxtrot entirely believable. Aris is compelling as the clearly long-suffering Captain, a good foil to Russell’s Cougar. His slave-like devotion to Cougar, even as he knows Cougar doesn’t reciprocate, has twinges of genuine sadness, even as he goes along with and enables Cougar’s lies and manipulation. 

The second act takes a dramatic turn with the arrival of Sherbert Gravel, a very strong Naomi Preston-Low, who has no intention of entertaining any of Cougar’s nonsense. She is willing to spar, able to size him up and knows exactly how to cut him down. Her scalpel-like approach contrasts with the lack of subtlety and shouting elsewhere. The danger she brings is obvious to everyone except Cougar. As she takes more and more control of the evening, the tension shifts very much in Gravel’s favour.

The set does a lot with a little. There’s a commitment to bird imagery from decorating the flat with small ornaments as though collected from a real junk ship, to the small but smart choice to play bird song during the interval. This really shows the thought put into this production.

Director Brittany Rex’s pacing is good, ensuring the dialogue comes fast and witty as you’d expect from Ridley. While the interval arrives at a perfect moment, it does also feel slightly unnecessary.  The tension has been nicely built, and while the humour of the second half will change the feel for a short time, the pot was always going to boil over, and the explosive finale may have been better served with an increasing pace rather than a forced pause.

As the pot boils over, the evening loses a little track of itself. Gravel has a traditional handbag containing everything one might need, which feels a bit like a setup, and the payoff is one that both exactly what you expect and feels out of place. It escalates and moves a little towards parody; it’s not really in keeping with what we have seen before. Perhaps toning this down a little and keeping it calmer and less over the top would work better. I’m curious how much is the directorial choice of Rex and how much is in Ridley’s script.

There’s plenty going for this Fastest Clock, mostly sharp performances and a strong sense of Ridley’s work. When it clicks, it really captures dark wit and unease.

Writer: Phillip Ridley
Director: Brittany Rex
Stage Manager: Donovan Lenten
Fight & Intimacy Director: Nora Iso-Kungas
Lighting Design: James Denny
Set Construction: Roger Godfrey
A Cellar Door Theatre Company Production

The Fastest Clock in the Universe has completed its run at Studio at New Wimbledon Theatre