Olivier and BAFTA Award winner Michael Wynne’s acclaimed play Clive arrives at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, bringing a funny, moving and timely exploration of loneliness, technology and human connection.
The play follows Thomas, a programmer who enjoys the freedom of working from home and spending his days in the company of Clive, a giant cactus who serves as his closest confidant. As work begins to fall apart and his isolation deepens, Thomas becomes increasingly dependent on his unusual companion, while developing an unhealthy fixation on the lives unfolding outside his window.
Blending humour with emotional depth, Wynne’s script explores how modern technology can simultaneously connect and isolate us. As Thomas clings ever more tightly to his prickly friend, Clive examines the challenges of maintaining genuine human relationships in an increasingly digital world.
The production reunites two-time Olivier Award nominee Paul Keating with acclaimed director Lucy Bailey. Keating’s extensive stage career includes leading roles in Tommy, Closer to Heaven, Little Shop of Horrors and Kenny Morgan, while Bailey is renowned for productions including Witness for the Prosecution, Baby Doll and Murder on the Orient Express.
Presented by Cahoots Theatre Company Ltd in association with Arcola Theatre, Clive offers an intimate portrait of modern life that balances comedy, pathos and poignant social observation.
Clive runs at Drawing Room at Assembly Rooms from 6 – 30 August at 16:55. Tickets are on sale here
