Captain Amazing

(Paperback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

My dad is a superhero. No one else knows cos it has to stay a secret. Alistair McDowall's play is a funny and poignant one-man show that thrusts us into the life of Britains only part-time superhero. Struggling to balance his family responsibilities and more conventional job with defeating super-villains and rescuing families from burning buildings, Captain Amazing represents how all parents strive to be heroes in the eyes of their children. Discover this man's origins, his family life, and how even the invincible arent immune to tragedy. Captain Amazing received its world premiere at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2013, starring Mark Weinman, and directed by Clive Judd. It was revived for a national tour from March 2014. '[He] is the kind of man you wouldnt look twice at in the street: balding; stooped; tentative. Hes skating over the surface of life, marking time with his job at B&Q, barely acquiring possessions, not speaking to his alcoholic father. And then he meets a woman who does look twice at him; who gives birth to their daughter, Emily, and suddenly Emily is convinced that her beloved father is a superhero.' Daily Telegraph

Reviews

This is an intelligent, involving examination of the transformative potential of fatherhood of its ability to take a man who can barely look at himself in the mirror, and make him feel all-powerful, worthy of love. For my money, it may well be the best one-man show youre likely to see at the Fringe this year. * Daily Telegraph on Captain Amazing *
Sizzling exuberance and imagination * Observer, on Brilliant Adventures *
Remarkable young writing talent . . . There is a convincing tang of lived experience in the evocation of a practically lawless pocket of the north-east. * Guardian, on Brilliant Adventures *
Alistair McDowall's fascinating debut - which won a Judges Award in the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting in 2011 - plays by its own rules . . . Note the name Alistair McDowall. Hes a writer to watch. * The Times *
An intense performance that is moving and funny in equal measure . . . What is presented on stage is a work of pure joy * Whatsonstage *
We need playwrights like McDowall. He believes in potential, champions underdogs and writes with such full-blooded bighearted empathy that you can't help but be won over * Scotsman *
A monologue that crackles with invention . . . This is a terrific piece of writing full of crackle, invention and heart * Guardian *
It's a poignant understated salute to everyday acts of courage. * The Times *

Author Bio

Alistair McDowall grew up in the North East of England. Brilliant Adventures was awarded a Bruntwood Prize in 2011, and was developed as part of the Young Writers Festival 2012 at the Royal Court. He has been a writer-on-attachment with the Royal Court, Paines Plough, and the National Theatre Studio, and his play Talk Show was produced at the Royal Court Downstairs from 16 - 20 July 2013.