"utterly convincing...no greater praise than that" - British Theater Guide
"not to be missed " - FRINGEREVIEW.COM 2007
"a powerful and engaging performance....." - Three Weeks 2007
Best of Edinburgh – Chicago Very Rare Chance to see the best of Edinburgh Festival

Pip Utton, one of the UK’s most acclaimed solo artist has the American premiere of three dramatic lectures receiving critical acclaim and great response from audiences around the World.

• The creator of The Tramp, one of the most famous cinema images of all time, trapped himself inside an image he never truly managed to succeed without. His genius raised early slapstick to a level of comedy setting the bench mark for future movie makers, and his creation propelled him into the worlds of intellectuals and royalty. He created an image of himself for public consumption that hid the darker sides of his personality. In Chaplin, Utton displays the private man haunted by and in conflict with the public image.

Reviews
"I think Pip Utton is an alien, a protean creature which can turn into anything it desires! I've seen him as Tony Hancock, Adolf Hitler and Francis Bacon, as well as a Roy Orbison lookalike and Joseph the father of Jesus, and he was utterly convincing as all of them. He even managed to look like his subjects. And this year he takes on the old Charlie Chaplin and does it again. He takes us inside Chaplin's mind, exploring his memories and feelings, and we come away feeling that we really understand the man, that we really have spent an hour in his company. There can be no greater praise than that." - The British Theatre Guide 2007

"Pip Utton - not to be missed as Adolf AND Charlie Chaplin! ....... Utton is such a fine performer, we'd recommend you see both shows." - FRINGEREVIEW.COM 2007

"Very cleverly written and beautifully directed with close attention to detail. As usual if you go to see Pip Utton perform you know you are in for some high quality theatre." - One4review.com 2007

"..... a powerful and engaging performance....." - Three Weeks 2007

Pip Utton, Notes
- ‘Chaplin’ is a gentle play; with I hope a little edge to it. Rather like Chaplin’s films. Most of my writing up till now has been far more confrontational. Chaplin didn’t work out that way. I didn’t feel the need to dwell over long on Chaplin’s career; why tell people what they already know? But of course it had to be part of the monologue. There was also no need to make the play revolve around his sexual appetites, or his supposed political leanings, but again they must be part. And of course I have had to come to some conclusions about all these things. They can neither be ignored nor dwelt on; the play has a limited timescale.
So I have decided to begin with the older Chaplin on Christmas morning 1977, just one hour before he dies. I concerned myself with the frustration of being trapped within an image - the private man searching for public recognition for his ‘genius’, whilst the public the world over worshipped his creation – the Tramp.

The Tramp was Chaplin but Chaplin wasn’t merely the Tramp. The Tramp is one of the most recognisable images ever. Charles Chaplin is not. This is the true nightmare of celebrity. Am I loved as myself or only as my work? Chaplin’s genius created the Tramp but he was encouraged by so much acclaim to believe that he was a ‘genius’ – full stop.

Chaplin’s autobiography paints the picture that he wanted us to see. I think that he wanted us to be impressed by him as a truly great man. It contains many dubious claims about his past and leaves out much of importance. Even during his lifetime he was contradictory about much of the background to his life. He tried in fact to create his own history.

Chaplin’s career in film spanned the first sixty years of the movie industry. During this time movie making took the medium from the very basic silents to the glories of stereo wide-screen Technicolor. Did Chaplin’s genius develop alongside or did it remain only in those early silents?

It would take a much more talented, brave, and/or conceited man than me to attempt to imitate Charlie Chaplin on stage. In film Charlie Chaplin was a genius; in a world. awestruck by the magic of film. On stage I can only hope to capture some of the spirit of the man, the private man haunted by and in conflict with the public image.