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Preview by Paul Nelson
SINCE last year's nomination for the Perrier Best Newcomer, Hal
Cruttenden, has been busy, busy, busy.
He's still soft and cuddly but now reveals an increasing inner
darkness - a bit like an inside out walnut whip.
Hal is returning to the Fringe with his show, To Hal and Back
at the Pleasance Dome, and this time he is a little bit crosser…and
more pathetic than ever.
So what has Hal been doing?
"Talking about myself really," he confesses.
And that's something he will be continuing to do with much enthusiasm
at The Edinburgh Fringe 2003.
That and explaining his unusual
hatred of mice. The precarious state of the world will also be
a running theme from the man who admits to running like a bit
of a girl himself.
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Hal's professional debut was in the play Another Country,
at the Queen's Theatre in the West End of London, opposite two
unknown 20-somethings, Kenneth Branagh and
Rupert Everett. Hal was 12.
After retiring from child acting to concentrate on puberty and
girls, he returned to the stage and screen in his early twenties,
with TV roles in Shackleton, Eastenders, Kavanagh QC, Out of
the Blue, Touching Evil
and Bramwell.
On film he has appeared in Mrs Dalloway and The Madness
of King George.
However, it is as a stand up comic that Hal has made his name
(chosen by posh Shakespeare-loving parents).
As well as doing the entire comedy circuit here, including the
Comedy Store and Jongleurs, Hal has had several jollies abroad
for The Comedy Store in Abu Dhabi and Dubai; The Singapore Comedy
Festival and opened the first comedy
venue in Bali.
Nice work if you can get it. And it's no surprise that he does.
To Hal and Back, Pleasance Dome 3 (Venue 23), 1 Bristo Square,
Edinburgh. August 2 to 25 (Previews Jul 30 to Aug 1) at 20.20hrs.
£4.50 previews, £9/£7.50 (£10/£8.50
Fri/Sat and 21st to 24th Aug). Box Office: 0131 556 6550
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