The Fastest Clock in the Universe is a play by Phillip Ridley, whose work I have developed a recent fondness for. First performed in 1992, the play is revived by director Brittany Rex at the New Wimbledon Theatre's "Studio" space. As you first enter the theatre there is a kind of grotty, dinginess to the place. The herbal cigarette smoke in the air adds to the atmosphere. That cigarette scent followed me home on my clothes, just as the play's themes lingered with me too. The Fastest Clock in the Universe centres on Cougar Glass, who is obsessed with looking beautiful and staying youthful. Aging is clearly a sore subject for Cougar; he mentally spirals with any reference to his real age. We get the impression he is much older than he looks. Frederick Russell excels in this lead role as the horrible hypersexual, Cougar, becoming a swinging pendulum of emotions. In the second act, it seems he barely gets a word of dialogue, but the physical acting on...