The Cutting of the Cloth

by Michael Hastings

2015, Southwark Playhouse
Director: Tricia Thorns

ABOUT THE PLAY

The work-room of a Savile Row tailors, 1953. Two master craftsmen at daggers drawn: Polish-born Spijak insists that nothing can beat the excellence of a hand-sewn suit, while Eric uses his machine to work at twice the speed and earn twice the money. Sparks fly as each fights his own corner with biting wit and vicious humour. Into this battleground steps Maurice, a teenager at the very start of his apprenticeship. Will he survive the gruelling training to become a master tailor? Or will he, as Spijak’s daughter urges him to, escape?

PRESS

‘Suffused with emotional truth…This finely constructed play about life on Savile Row feels like a loving evocation of Fifties London but is still resonant today’
Evening Standard

‘A long overdue premiere. Lovingly detailed staging…the play’s central arguments about progress remain as keen as ever.’
Financial Times

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