Cloaca

Trapped in a dreary civil-service job for the last twenty-two years, Pieter finds solace in his treasured collection of paintings. Then one night an unexpected phone call threatens him with its loss. As his world turns upside down, he pins his hopes on three lifelong friends to come to his help. There’s Joep, the permanently ambitious politician, waiting for the call to ministerial office as his marriage goes into freefall. There’s Tom, the one-time lawyer, his career damaged by a roller-coaster journey through drugs, self-harm and mental breakdown. And there’s Maarten, an avant-garde theatre director whose plays don’t have quite the same flavour as they used to in his youth. Four friends from their student days, reunited in middle age, their lives finely balanced between hope and disillusion. Dutch writer Maria Goos’ acclaimed play Cloaca is a dark and powerful take on the joys and woes of male friendship. It is also a seriously funny piece of theatre, examining how men ruin their emotional lives in the constant quest for money, power and reputation. Kevin Spacey directs.