THE CUT
A new play by Mark Ravenhill
Directed by Michael Grandage
Ian McKellen in the role of "Paul"
23 February - 1 April 2006
The Donmar Warehouse
London
4-9 April 2006
The Lowry
Salford Quays
11-16 April
Bristol Old Vic
18-23 April
Liverpool Playhouse
Winner
M.E.N. Theatre Awards:
Best Visiting Production
Best Actor in a Visiting Production
Jimmy Akingbola
Emma Beattie
Tom Burke
Deborah Findlay
Ian McKellen
Jimmy Akingbola and
Ian McKellen
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Paul (Ian McKellen) is an ordinary man with a
shocking secret. At home, he is a loving husband and father. At work,
he administers the cut. In a society sickened by his profession, Paul
struggles with his conscience and longs to tell the truth.
Ian McKellen last appeared at The Donmar in 1978 in Macbeth and A Miserable and Lonely Death.
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Reviews
"A visceral portrait of dystopia both grips and
mystifies"
— Michael Portillo,
New Statesman
"McKellen excels as an Orwellian state torturer" —Paul Taylor, The Independent
"Nobody can be inwardly and outwardly ravaged like Sir
Ian"
— Benedict Nightingale,
The Times
"A masterly performance by Ian McKellen" — Michael Billington, The Guardian
"McKellen is often riveting as the troubled Government
operative, switching from urbanity to anger, and from the mundane to the
lachrymose, in the blink of an eye."
— Charles Spencer,
The Telegraph
"McKellen spends 99% of the play’s 90 minutes on
stage, expressing Paul’s inward and outward turmoil, and proving why he
is so highly regarded as a stage performer."
— Matthew Amer,
London Theatre Guide
"Ian McKellen cuts a watchably creepy figure . . .
makes the flesh crawl"
— Matt Wolf,
Bloomberg
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