Howard Katz

Synopsis

Howard Katz completes a loose trilogy set in contemporary London. Father, son, husband, brother, showbiz agent, fifty and furious: Howard Katz throws his life in the air to search for his soul...This play contains language which some people may find offensive.

Our Review:

14 June 2001

There’s a scene in Mike Leigh’s breathtaking Secrets and Lies film in which a shambolic figure lurches into photographer Timothy Spall’s office. Derelict and bereft, he trumpets his past successes more to highlight his current predicament than to garner sympathy. The actor was Ron Cook, and in Patrick Marber’s engrossing new work we find Cook once again imploring the Fates and God – pleading for identity as his day of reckoning approaches.

The Cottesloe’s stage revolves merrily throughout Marber’s production, like some arbitrary carousel. Or maybe it’s the turning wheel of life we’re being invited to contemplate. But we open with a ruefully shabby Cook, as Howard Katz, awaking on a park bench. You can virtually taste the bitter dregs of cheap whisky, and almost recoil from the impression of harsh breath and stale clothing.

However, we soon switch to Katz’s earlier affluent life as a show business agent. Surrounded by friends and family, there’s a ...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com - 5 October 2001:

Haven't seen it yet: read it. Marber hasn't lost his edge, or his eye for human nature. This is the warp and woof of London life in all its rich texture.. yes, I'm sorry to say, the world is like this. Katz maybe a monster but who wants to see plays in which people sit around being nice to each other? ...

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