The Beautiful Cosmos of Ivor Cutler at the Theatre Royal Brighton Review
The Beautiful Cosmos
of Ivor Cutler
Theatre Royal, Brighton
13-17 May 2015
Reviewed by Meresa Bergin
I have always been a huge fan of Ivor Cutler’s poems but I knew very little about his life or other works so I was thrilled to be asked to review The Beautiful Cosmos of Ivor Cutler, created by Vanishing Point and National Theatre of Scotland, for the Brighton Fringe at the Theatre Royal in Brighton.
We were asked to review on the 14 May which happened to be our wedding anniversary so it was perfect timing, there are plenty of wonderful places close to the theatre to eat so after a meal we arrived at the theatre and were shown to our seats, the room was packed and excitement filled the air.
The evening was a complete joy and I cannot say a bad thing about it. The play tells the story of Ivor’s life and has extracts from his books, poems and also his songs. We were subjected to an awe infused delight, I adore Ivor’s view of life and the show portrayed it so well showing you great sadness and soul joying happiness. There is dancing, costumes and jazz, something for everyone in this little gem of a show.
Sandy Grierson was the perfect choice for Ivor and held all his charm and humour, it truly felt like he was in the room and his chemistry with Elicia Daly was breath-taking. I loved how the play was a play inside itself which I thought was so clever and Elicia was so beautiful and remarkable as Frances.
I love Life in a Scotch Sitting Room so was overjoyed to see it included in the play. I love the tale of how Ivor tried to kill his baby brother when he was three and when he took 6 painkillers to end his life, Sandy did this with such ease and we loved how the cast included us in the play, my husband said he felt like he was back at school as we all had to call out “Good morning headmaster”.
I adore the poem/song
“I need nothing
I have everything I need
I lie upon the coffin
a doughnut in my hand”
So was happy to see it included and the audience agreed as we all sang along!
My husband also commented he thought the blackened screens as some of his work was read out was very clever and fitting as this is how it would have happened at the time.
For us however Ed Gaughan, who did a number of voice overs as different roles completely, stole the show, we loved his John Peel impression especially.
It is difficult to explain or put into words how amazing this little gem is so all I can say is go to see it, even if you are not a fan or you have never heard of Ivor Culter you will not be disappointed. I very rarely want to watch something again but I could happily watch this play for the rest of my life!
Rating: 5/5 
Tickets cost from £18.90 to £26.40 (plus £2.85 transaction fee).
The Beautiful Cosmos of Ivor Cutler is at the Theatre Royal in Brighton until 17 May 2015 as part of the Brighton Festival. For more information or to book tickets click here or call the box office on 0844 871 7650.
Brighton Festival runs from 2-24 May 2015. For more information visit www.brightonfestival.org.
Theatre Royal. New Road, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 1SD | 0844 871 7650
