Bob Kingdom's portrayal of Truman Capote, the brilliant and tortured, adorable and wicked writer of Breakfast At Tiffany’s and In Cold Blood has spellbound audiences all over the world enjoying a sell-out season in London's West End and Off-Broadway.
Capote - social butterfly, gossipmonger and faded novelist - is brought back from the dead in Bob Kingdom's award-winning one-man show, dropping names until those names drop him. Never lapsing into biography or lecture, this piece brings the later middle of the twentieth century into sharp focus through Capote's slightly jaded eyes.
Elvis, Camus, Frost, Marilyn, Thurber, Gore Vidal; all bit parts in the world Truman Capote moved through. The slightly seedy glamour of Breakfast at Tiffany's and the intelligence of its author shine through the script, bringing out the tragedy threaded through Capote's humour.
Capturing the man and his times despite the Capote estate forbidding any direct quotation is no easy task, but Kingdom succeeds with ease. His performance is scarily accurate; the wardrobe, the mannerisms, the camp, acerbic humour is precise. But this is so much more than impersonation, bringing a man who faded from view, from the fame he craved, as the world lost interest, back into the spotlight he deserved - or at least needed.
‘I knew Truman and I can only tell you the impersonation is hair-raising... by re-creating the style, elegance and poetic tragedy of Truman Capote, Mr Kingdom, in one of the crowning achievements of the acting profession, has created new poetry of his own.’- New York Observer
‘For the actor, the occasion is a tour de force; for the audience, much to savour and to reflect upon’ - The New York Times
Venue: Assembly (Drawing Room), Mound Place, EH1 2LU
Dates and Times: 3 – 27 August at 11.05am
Running Time: 65 mins
Tickets: £6 on 3 & 4 Aug
£11 (£10) on 5, 6, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24 Aug
£12 (£11) on 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 27 Aug
Box Office: www.assembly.com
