Low Down
With his characteristic skill Pip Utton explores the darker side of celebrity.
Review
In one of Pip Utton’s two biographical studies at this years festival, the other being his politically incendiary Adolf, he looks at the life of film icon Charlie Chaplin.
In this show we see a man consumed with bitterness, scornful of the film industry. Of course he was one of the first stars in the relatively new medium, but by his old age the cameras and critical adoration were being directed elsewhere.
Utton communicates these macabre and brooding aspects of Chaplin’s character with precision and attention to detail consistent with his reputation as a consummate performer. While the show lacks the dynamite affect of his other entry into the Fringe, it is well worth your time, as an interesting comment on the changing nature of celebrity, and as an exploration of a largely ignored avenue of film history.
Reviewed by DS 25th August 2007
