A whistle-stop tour through the life of Captain Springsmile Jack
A story of piracy, cunning and revenge is spun at rip-roaring speed in this one-man, multi-character play. Part drama, mainly comedy, Will Hartley steps into each role—as is the nature of the one man play—to bring us on a whistle-stop tour through the life of legendary pirate Captain Springsmile Jack in Cutlass, a new show at The Glitch, writes Melina Block.
It isn’t a particularly complicated or unfamiliar plot: wayward youth is offered adventure and mentorship by an older pirate; said youth grows up to command the respect and control of his own ship; betrayal and heartache befalls our antihero; a revenge plan is concocted and succeeds despite the odds. The USP of Cutlass, then, is not the details of its story but the telling of it. I don’t know if Hartley has any children in his immediate or extended family but if he does, story time must be a serious treat for them.
Even if his energy wavers towards the end (fair enough, London is about a month into an unrelenting heatwave), his enthusiasm remains. This is no small feat; aside from the challenges posed by the punishing temperature, Hartley’s script moves a mile a minute, demanding he switch from naive deckhand to relaxed narrator to stuck up admiral of the British navy often after just a few lines.
While not every joke lands, there are a good amount of laughs. The confidence and ease with which Hartley performs also makes this an easy watch, especially as the story ramps up in the latter half.
Sometimes the exact identities of the multitude of characters portrayed by one actor can become somewhat muddled, but given the relative simplicity of the story it is not hard to remain more or less aware of what’s going on at any given time.
A fun, lighthearted piece of theatre that doesn’t take itself too seriously, Cutlass is a real crowd pleaser.
The Glitch, 134 Lower Marsh, SE1 7AE until August 3rd.
Booing and full details: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/vaultcreativearts/2149752
