Reykjavik

As an Australian recently moved to United Kingdom, this is the kind of show I have been waiting to see. A story about something unique to a small community, filled with history and traditions that I otherwise wouldn't have heard.

The story follows an owner of a commercial fishing business in Hull that sends out trawlers to the turbulent seas between the UK and Iceland. When a ship goes down and the owner has to complete the walk to visit all the widowed women from the tragedy he takes a shortcut and is ridiculed so flies to Reykjavik to try and make right with the few survivors. On top of the already harrowing situation, there is the element of folk magic and hauntings creating additional tension to the story.

What I liked

The choice to contain each acts in a singular room (the owner's office for act 1 and the hotel lobby in Reykjavik for act 2) was wonderful, as it drew me into the performers even more closely - how they interacted with the space, how it changed subsequently, what it means to be safe compared to the ever expansive journeys the fishermen go on behind the scenes. I'm still curious about how they changed the stage in between acts has it seemingly had the same skeleton, but whether it was a creative choice or a practical one it still felt impactful on the story - how what was a closed off office because an open place reception as the owner stepped out into the world to face the consequences of his actions.

I also loved the cast, I am an absolute sucker for double character casts, as it feels like they get to stretch their muscles to show a wider range within the same story. Matthew Durkan's performances were notably contrasting, going from a very new-wave reverend to foul-mouthed fisherman, two roles that he explored with both physicality and vocality to create equally engaging performances.

I am not the expert, in any fashion, on regional accents, but I did love the accents in this show. Even without an attuned ear I felt I could tell the difference between the upper and lower class shift within the accent of the area, playing with the power held by the boss versus the workers in manual labour industries like fishing.

Many plays that I have seen recently have had some element of song added, but none felt as appropriate as it was here, with a song at the end of the act 2 that was definitely one of my favourite moments. Sea shanties became popular online during the covid lockdowns, but that was a trend; hearing the cast sing in this show was amazingly haunting, and the felt like a perfect end to the story.

What wasn't my favourite

A brief moment in act 1 saw the owner and a fisherman's wife nearly kiss, a moment that I honestly felt was unneeded. The woman is saddened to hear that her husband wasn't one of the drowned fisherman, facing the realities of her abusive marriage, and along with comforting her and trying to help her to just leave the man, the owner goes in for a kiss which she is receptive to but decides against. My opinion is that, though the wife is a very interesting character, and a valid character to explore within this story, this moment made me less receptive to the owner. A man in power using said power for sexual/romantic advancement just felt like a side step in the story that didn't have much of an influence on the rest of the show.

Overall

This was a fantastic watch, telling a story that I am unlikely to hear, and telling it well. I don't think my criticisms have much weight against what was definitely a wonderful script, but I am nonetheless not going to call it perfect.