The Author

Synopsis

Settle back into the warmth of the theatre. Relax as the story unfolds. For you. With you. Of you. A story of hope, togetherness and exploitation. Laugh with the actors, tap your feet to the music, take a chocolate, turn to your neighbour. You're here. Tim Crouch's play is about the harm carried out in the name of art. Performed within its audience, it tells the story of another play: a violent, shocking and abusive play written by a playwright called Tim Crouch who oversteps the line. The Author is a highly original and terrifyingly seductive journey into the horror of our mediated world.

Our Review:

Theo Bosanquet - 30 September 2009

The Author, the latest chapter in Tim Crouch's ongoing theatrical experiment, provides an evening that is both frustrating and compelling in equal measure.

Performed and set in the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs - which celebrates its 40th birthday this season - it uses the audience rake as its stage (two seating units are set opposite each other), and the performers, including Crouch himself, sit among us.

It starts jovially, with Adrian Howells, who rather puts one in mind of the comedian Alan Carr, warming us up with some feel-good banter. “Isn't this great?” he excitedly asks an audience member. “Kind of”, she nervously replies. (Another on press night made his feelings plain by walking out shortly after this exchange.)

It soon becomes apparent that Howells is representative of us, the audience. He discusses his membership of the Royal Court friends scheme as two actors, Esther Smith and Vic Llewellyn, talk about their experi...

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Latest User Review

Jade Hespin - 26 April 2012:

I believe Tim Crouch has great abilities to story tell and this piece particularily needs the audience to use their imagination. I agree that we as viewers are too used to violence nowadays and the fact that Tim based The Author within the audience is different and proves the importance of the audience rather than just blanking them out. However what I found disturbing was the fact that I have a very strong imagination as a performer and often think a lot about things, so at the end finding out about the paedophile and abuse towards the baby left me with images that I can still remember and wish I never had the images of. I did not choose to have these images and although Tim has shocked me, I found the ending to be too much and wish that i didnt hear what tim was saying. But cleverly put together and unique, great real descriptive skills...

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