Cloaca

Synopsis

Trapped in a dreary civil-service job for the last twenty-two years, Pieter finds solace in his treasured collection of paintings. Then one night an unexpected phone call threatens him with its loss. As his world turns upside down, he pins his hopes on three lifelong friends to come to his help. There's Joep, the permanently ambitious politician, waiting for the call to ministerial office as his marriage goes into freefall. There's Tom, the one-time lawyer, his career damaged by a roller-coaster journey through drugs, self-harm and mental breakdown. And there's Maarten, an avant-garde theatre director whose plays don't have quite the same flavour as they used to in his youth. Four friends from their student days, reunited in middle age, their lives finely balanced between hope and disillusion. Dutch writer Maria Goos' acclaimed play Cloaca is a dark and powerful take on the joys and woes of male friendship. It is also a seriously funny piece of theatre, examining how men ruin their emotional lives in the constant quest for money, power and reputation.

Our Review:

29 September 2004

It’s hard to imagine a West End play opening creating more of a hoopla than this – and certainly not one centred around its director. But then, not since Laurence Olivier has the Old Vic – or anywhere else for that matter – had an artistic director (an actor-manager one at that) as high-profile as Kevin Spacey, who became so enamoured of this historic theatre that he put his Hollywood film career on hold to move to London and run it.

In the process, Spacey has brought a little Hollywood glitz with him to London’s Waterloo, where the programmes are published by Condé Nast (complete with designer fashion adverts and a whopping £5 price tag) and, on the first night, an army of photographers and TV camera crews were on hand to capture the undeniable buzz.

Unfortunately, once the audience is settled in their seats, the excitement of “history in the making” is soon dispelled. You have to admire Spacey for risking launching his inaugural season with a new play. If only he’d ch...

Read more of the review

Latest User Review

195.92.198.75) - 3 November 2004:

Absolutely superb - no regrets at parting with forty quid to see this one. Funnny, touching, well acted and general all round class entertainment. Perfectly cast too, I might add....

Read more and add your own review