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سریعترین ساعت جهان
فیلیپ ریدلی، متولد ۱۹۵۷، نمایشنامه نویس، فیلم نامه نویس، شاعر، نویسنده، نقاش، عکاس و ترانه سرای بریتانیایی است. در حوزهٔ هنرهای تجسمی آثارش به شکل گستردهای در نمایشگاههای سراسر اروپا و ژاپن به نمایش گذاشتهاند و در حوزهٔ ادبیات نمایشی از پیشگامان جنبش In Yer Face محسوب میشود. او یکی از شصت نمایشنامه نویس تأثیرگذار شش دههٔ گذشتهٔ بریتانیا به حساب میآید و تنها کسی است که هر دو جایزهٔ اوینینگ استاندارد را به عنوان امیدوارکنندهترین چهرهٔ تازه سینمای بریتانیا و امیدوارکنندهترین نمایشنامه نویس دریافت کرده است. سریعترین ساعت جهان دومین نمایشنامهٔ ریدلی است که سال ۱۹۹۲ بحثهای زیادی به راه انداخت و جوایز بسیاری کسب کرد. برخی منتقدان این اثر را «بیش از حد خشن و سادیسم گونه» ارزیابی کردند و از نظر بعضی دیگر از اهالی تئاتر «بهترین نمایش سال» بود.
134 pages, Paperback
First published July 20, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 19, 2016
Written in 1992, this is the most apt cultural portrait ever created of the modern monster of gay male vanity. Eerily dead-on in its prediction of obsessions with youth, beauty, and sex. The main character is a monster made worse by the way his evil is reflected in those who love him (his endlessly infatuated partner in crime, Captain Tock) and those who are intrigued by his over-the-top persona. An attempt to seduce an underaged boy at his birthday party goes terribly awry and all the guests expose their worst hidden selves. Ridley is like God to me and this is my favorite of all his plays.
October 23, 2022
The Fastest Clock in the Universe is cold-hearted, pretentious, obtuse, and deliberately perverse. I loved it.
Wickedly funny, hideously dark, and strangely intense, the play careens by at warp speed, even when practically nothing is happening. It is principally the story of Cougar, a moody, handsome narcissist who shares an apartment with his protector (lover?) Doctor Tock. Cougar is thirty, but don't mention it: his fear of age is neurotic bordering on psychotic. He is in the habit, to make himself feel better (i.e., younger), of giving himself 19th birthday parties, to which he invites a single young man whom he will seduce before the evening is over. Tonight's intended victim is Foxtrot, a simple and naive 16-year-old whom Cougar met at a nearby hospital. Foxtrot frequented the hospital because his brother was dying of a disease that sounds rather like AIDS (Cougar, ever compassionate, simply tells Doctor Tock that he was dying of something terminal). Encouraged by Cougar, Foxtrot has begun to replace his beloved older brother with this ghoulish predator, and has cheerfully agreed to come to the party. But things do not go according to plan. Foxtrot surprises his new friend by inviting along his pregnant young fiancee, Sherbet.
Act Two is built mostly around the inevitable confrontation between Sherbet and Cougar--a battle over Foxtrot that becomes, for Cougar, a fight for his very life.
The play's flaws are apparent: the symbolism, which is rampant, mostly doesn't work; the outlandish character names smack of gimmickry and the events depicted are deliberately coarse and violent; the story that gives the play its title doesn't really make sense. But out of ugliness we often find beauty; I find it here in this nasty, brutally funny play. Much of the time, I felt thrilled and moved by The Fastest Clock in the Universe, and at the end I felt strangely exalted. I won't presume to explain it or to fight it: somehow The Fastest Clock in the Universe works.
Wickedly funny, hideously dark, and strangely intense, the play careens by at warp speed, even when practically nothing is happening. It is principally the story of Cougar, a moody, handsome narcissist who shares an apartment with his protector (lover?) Doctor Tock. Cougar is thirty, but don't mention it: his fear of age is neurotic bordering on psychotic. He is in the habit, to make himself feel better (i.e., younger), of giving himself 19th birthday parties, to which he invites a single young man whom he will seduce before the evening is over. Tonight's intended victim is Foxtrot, a simple and naive 16-year-old whom Cougar met at a nearby hospital. Foxtrot frequented the hospital because his brother was dying of a disease that sounds rather like AIDS (Cougar, ever compassionate, simply tells Doctor Tock that he was dying of something terminal). Encouraged by Cougar, Foxtrot has begun to replace his beloved older brother with this ghoulish predator, and has cheerfully agreed to come to the party. But things do not go according to plan. Foxtrot surprises his new friend by inviting along his pregnant young fiancee, Sherbet.
Act Two is built mostly around the inevitable confrontation between Sherbet and Cougar--a battle over Foxtrot that becomes, for Cougar, a fight for his very life.
The play's flaws are apparent: the symbolism, which is rampant, mostly doesn't work; the outlandish character names smack of gimmickry and the events depicted are deliberately coarse and violent; the story that gives the play its title doesn't really make sense. But out of ugliness we often find beauty; I find it here in this nasty, brutally funny play. Much of the time, I felt thrilled and moved by The Fastest Clock in the Universe, and at the end I felt strangely exalted. I won't presume to explain it or to fight it: somehow The Fastest Clock in the Universe works.
June 2, 2024
Brilliant! Funny, inventive, not afraid to be nasty and naughty with perfectly simple twists. Phillip ridley odd post-nuclear (or not idk!) worldbuilding works every time. a total modern classic
July 5, 2025
mid-book, but the ending was a bit creative and unexpected. probably that's why it's featured among best-sellers of theatre plays
August 23, 2025
A new fave of mine!!!
May 14, 2012
Once again, Philip Ridley has proved that he is an absolutely brilliant playwright. While I didn't enjoy this story quite as much as The Pitchfork Disney, I still found the characters thoroughly enjoyable and the humour to be very well placed.
January 6, 2015
I thought this play was quite interesting, quite a classic stylised contemporary text. The writing style reminded me of Caryl Churchill a little! The story itself was quite interesting, not what I expected, although I felt it was a little unnecessarily explicit for my liking! But overall, an interesting read!
March 22, 2008
I loved this play and want to do it.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews