This is an excellent performance by Farrelly in a show that has been running on and off for nearly a decade, but has certainly not run out of steam
Quentin Crisp: Naked Hope is a 1 man show depicting Quentin Crisp at two points in his life. First, alone in his grimy Chelsea flat in the 1960s, and then on stage in front of an audience in New York in the 90s. It was written by and stars Mark Farrelly and was directed by Linda Marlowe.
This show is part of the “Boys! Boys! Boys!” series at the Kings Head Theatre. Five shows which have men at their core but curated by female producers hoping to give a feminine perspective and view on issues such as queer history, toxic masculinity, and culture wars.
This production has a very minimal set, consisting of a chair, a vanity with mirror tucked away in the corner, and a few set decorations. All of your focus is on Farrelly giving his performance. The first half of the show is very strong. Farrelly displays brilliantly executed physicality and expertly canters through a very well written script. Moving wonderfully from comedic to heartbreaking in a moment, I was immediately engaged and thoroughly entertained.
I do think however that the show becomes significantly weaker in his second half. For the second half, we move to a depiction of Quentin Crisp on stage in New York delivering a performance while in his 80s. Perhaps hampered by now portraying a much older man, most of the exciting physicality is gone and replaced with merely pacing around the stage. The script itself at this point also offers less interest as it becomes less about Quentin Crisp’s life and the things he has learned, and becomes more musings on philosophy and the state of the world at the time. While this is all delivered with humour and a twinkle in the eye, it doesn’t quite match up with the humour and heartfelt moments in the first half.
One highlight of the second half however, was when a member of the audience (Steve) was invited up to read out questions on cards for Quentin Crisp to answer. Involving an audience member in a section of the show can always be a bit dangerous as you never know what they might do, but Farrelly was able to brilliantly interact with Steve and steer him gently to what he was supposed to do, all while delivering witty lines and seeming almost like Crisp himself reincarnated.
On that note, particular complements do need to go to Farrelly’s performance. The vocal affectations of a younger Crisp did take some getting used to, but the whole performance was delivered so earnestly with great humour, that you are very quickly brought on board with this peculiar persona on stage. The switch from younger to older Crisp is wonderfully done, with subtle changes in physicality to some of the same recognisable vocal patterns, but slightly changed and deepened to portray the older man.
At the end of the show, after the applause had died down, Farrelly took a moment to step out of character and address the audience directly and explain his personal affinity towards Quentin Crisp and highlighting the fact that the Kings Head Theatre, where we were all sat, was the location where Quentin Crisp first delivered his one-man show. This was a touching moment and I really appreciated seeing honesty and emotional openness from the actor who just portrayed the same from Crisp.
In conclusion, this is an excellent performance by Farrelly in a show that has been running on and off for nearly a decade, but has certainly not run out of steam. This show is running until 27th August, so plenty of opportunity for you to see this show for yourself and learn more about a really interesting figure in British queer history, while being thoroughly entertained.