David W Rintels’ Clarence Darrow rattles through the life and extraordinary career of the legendary lawyer – he of Inherit The Wind where Spacey took on the same character on this same stage – who took on capital punishment and defeated it in case after case as he shook up the US legal system. The play pulls together snippets from some of his great speeches and biggest wins along with more personal anecdotes to paint a portrait of a mighty fine human being.
And it is a role that Spacey seems born to play, he takes to the format like a duck to water, prowling around Alan Macdonald’s design which remains in the round and allows Spacey to move around freely, connecting viscerally with audience members and filling the vast space with his energy. It is no mean feat though some may be turned off by the grandstanding, you know what you’re getting with Spacey and he more than delivers with a magnificent performance.