The Beautiful Cosmos of Ivor Cutler: Vanishing Point & National Theatre of Scotland

Musician, poet, storyteller and cult figure, Ivor Cutler managed to captivate an improbable cross-section of audiences with his dour, witty and often bizarre musings. This magical production manages to capture all of that, the quiet, gentle humour of the man, the stubborn but understated self-belief, the subversive streak cloaked by the mask of eccentricity. More than anything though this clever creating reveals that Cutler was not an act, a fabrication merely put together for performance and to entertain. This was the man, his work a true expression of how he thought and how he lived, the  fact that recognition never changed him – all this is made clear by a company of performers who bring to life his words and his songs.
Sandy Grierson plays Cutler with extraordinary insight, vibrant and razor sharp at times, mellow and romantic, childlike and wise and finally debilitated and terribly sad. Long time girlfriend Phyllis King is perfectly captured by Elicia Daly, her delicacy and her poetry are all there but also her quiet strength.
The band perform the songs with skillful respect, embroidering the originals perhaps but in a way that no doubt would have put a smile on Ivor’s face. This is a delightful theatrical tribute to a man who was a true one-off, surreal, philosophical, witty and totally entertaining. It keeps the legend alive and does it with reverence and with style.
Theatre Royal Brighton
14 May
Andrew Kay
5 stars