کروکودیل

by Tom Basden, ماهرخ همتی (-Transalator)

Ivan is an actor who hasn’t achieved the recognition he feels he deserves. But all that is about to change when he is swallowed whole by a crocodile. Based on Dostoyevsky’s short story, The Crocodile is a ferociously funny, eye-poppingly theatrical play about art, animals and what happens when you try to take on the system from within... a crocodile.

Genres: Plays

109 pages, Paperback

About the author

Tom Basden (b. England, 1980) is a British actor and comedy writer, and a member of the British four man sketch group Cowards. He has written and performed extensively for comedy shows on the BBC and Channel 4 and often collaborates in two-man shows with fellow Cowards member Tim Key.

Basden was educated at King's College School, an independent school for boys in Wimbledon in South West London (in the same year group as actors Khalid Abdalla and Ben Barnes), followed by Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge. He was vice president of the Footlights and his contemporaries included Stefan Golaszewski, Sarah Solemani, Tim Key and Dan Stevens.

Basden's one man show at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe Tom Basden Won't Say Anything won the if.comedy award for Best Newcomer. He also starred with Tim Key in the short film The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island, which won the UK Film Council Kodak Award for Best British Short Film.
Basden replaced Tim Minchin as the resident musician for the second series of Mark Watson Makes the World Substantially Better where he appears along with Tim Key and Mark Watson.
He was a guest panellist on the BBC Two programme "Never Mind The Buzzcocks" on Wednesday, 4 November 2009.

In 2011 he wrote There Is A War starring himself and Phoebe Fox for the National Theatre's Double Feature.
In 2012, he appeared as musical side-kick to Key in his Radio 4 programme Tim Key's Late Night Poetry.
From 2010 to 2012 Basden has written and starred in the BBC Radio 4 sitcom Party. It also stars Key, Jonny Sweet, Anna Crilly and Katy Wix and has just finished its third series.

Reviews

[Talie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious, Basden's comedic voice is clear and definitely recognisable.

[Oscar Dent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark. Silly. Lively. All you want and more; read this at once

[Kell Cowley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly enjoyable absurdist comedy. Bit of a headscratcher how to stage it but I'll be thinking.

[Lucia Collado · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious, random, absurd. It leapt off the page. Wonderful - the ending was a massive question mark though

[Aisa Abouei]

So much beautiful...

[bee · Rating 3 out of 5]

i liked ! funny !

[Shervin Bakhtiari · Rating 5 out of 5]

از تام باسدِن قبلا نمایشنامه جوزف ک رو خونده بودم که اون هم اقتباسی بود از محاکمه‌ی کافکا که پیشنهاد می‌کنم حتما اون رو هم بخونید. این آثار تعریف درست اقتباس رو ارائه می‌دن. اثری که بر پایه‌های اثر مبدأ ایستاده اما کاملا مستقل هست و مثل آثار امروزی ( بخصوص در سینما و سریال ) صرفا مدیوم عوض نشده.
باسدن نکات ریزی رو از داستان داستایوفسکی نگه‌داشته که دوتاش بسیار مهم‌تره، اول طنز ماجرا و اون کمدی سیاهی که حتی گزنده‌تر از متن اصلی هم هست، دوم هم خشم انتقادی.
حمله و یورش باسدن به پدیده‌ای به اسم سلبریتی و به شکل غریبی پیروی کردن خیلی آدم‌ها از این شخصیت بسیار جسورانه‌ست.
دقیقا فرق دوتا اثر توی همین‌جاست، دغدغه‌ی دوتا اثر با توجه به اینکه در دو برهه‌ی متفاوت نوشته می‌شن فرق داره. اگر داستایوفسکی اون زمان بحث تهاجم فرهنگی و غالب شدن یک فرهنگ خارجی رو داشته باسدن در سال ۲۰۱۵ دیگه مسئله براش امر خارجی نبوده، بلکه یک امر کاملا درونی و داخلی بوده. یک بلاهت جمعی. در موقعیت‌های بسیاری زاک ( که به نوعی می‌شه گفت خودِ باسدن هست ) از تفکر اطرافیان متعجب می‌شه. این انتخاب ( یک عاقل در میان جمعی نادان ) بسیار به اون وجه طنز ماجرا کمک کرده و تا حدود زیادی هم منو یاد کله‌پوک‌های نیل سایمون می‌ندازه.