Life with Oscar by Nick Cohen. The Arcola Theatre, 24 Ashwin Street, London E4 to 20 April 2024.

2✩✩ Review: William Russell.

“Loads of energy, pity about the words.”

One can admire Nick Cohen’s energy as he delivers this 70 minute monologue about his love of movies and life in Hollywood dreaming of an Oscar but it is a pity about the script. Maybe he varies from night to night as one past review suggested his acting was understated. It was anything but on the opening night of this London run. Cohen opens promisingly enough with an account of the young Nick under the table at the family home in 1977 or thereabouts listening to his parents entertaining producer Alexander Salkind. Like Salkind they are émigrés from Eastern Europe, and are discussing the casting of Marlon Brando in Salkind’s Superman as the man in tight’s father and the chances of Marlon getting a second Oscar. Salkind seems to think this unusual although other stars had managed it but he did at least turn down the idea of Cohen’s dad, an aspiring director apparently, directing anything for him. Brando spent only some ten minutes in the film which, although hugely successful, was nothing special and suggests that the small boy was the only one who knew what he was talking about. But that promise of life in the promised land of California is not fulfilled because we are duly taken to Hollywood where Cohen now grown up lodged with some film makers, discovered how to get an Oscar – in the bad old days getting one for a short film was dead easy, as indeed was getting one by a studio for their current “actor” star – Harvey Weinstin knew all about it. The wok world has changed all that, however, and we learn precious little otherwise except life back then was hand to mouth for many who went there. A Theatre de Complicite graduate Cohen does all one would expect when it comes to prancing about the stage a lot, removing garments, and molesting the audience, but when it comes to the words one never really cares about any of what he reveals in spite of clips of film to illustrate the stories. Hollywood Babylon or City of Nets it is not.

Cast

Nick Cohen – himself.

Creatives

Director – Cressida Brown.