UK Theatre Network

The Seafarer

Octagon Theatre, Bolton

5 June 2009

The final show in the Octagon season is Mark Babych’s valedictory production before he steps down as artistic director.  The Seafarer is another example of his passion for new writing, skill at working with a tight ensemble on an intense chamber piece, and penchant for black comedy – a characteristic choice from the director who brought us Four Knights in Knaresborough, Blue/Orange and assorted Martin McDonagh classics. 

Sharky, a shambolic middle-aged drifter, has mysteriously jacked in his chauffeuring job down south and returned to the bosom of his family for Christmas.  “Family” now comprises his blind older brother Richard and their drinking buddy Ivan, whose exasperated wife has chucked him out yet again.  In this dysfunctional company, and surrounded by every kind of alcohol, Sharky’s attempts at abstinence are already under pressure.  But then his arch-enemy Nicky comes round for a game of poker, accompanied by the enigmatic Mr Lockhart.  Nicky thinks he accidentally bumped into Mr Lockhart in a bar, but in fact Mr Lockhart has purposely come to claim a twenty-five-year-old debt from the doomed Sharky.

Conor McPherson’s monologue-heavy Shining City was at the Octagon a couple of years ago, but The Seafarer is a fuller-bodied piece, getting away from the long story-telling form by deploying the cast of five in a genuinely dramatic manner.  It’s also an out-and-out Irish comedy, though again with a supernatural twist.

The cast handle the Mamet-style dialogue with aplomb, and their characterisations are well observed, from Michael O’Connor’s edgy alcoholic Sharky, pacing the tiny basement room like a caged animal, to Peter Dineen as his monstrous brother, whose spirit remains strong but whose features are disintegrating like a digestive biscuit dunked in a cup of tea.  Brendan Charleson is piteous but funny as the myopic Ivan, and Leigh Symonds captures the way that Nicky’s confident designer-label self-image is actually a cheap counterfeit.  However it’s Fintan McKeown as the Mr Lockhart who brings another dimension to the play.  The crumpled white linen suit, goatee beard and pony-tail immediately mark him out from his grubby companions, as do his aristocratic bearing and a mesmeric bass-baritone.  And when he rants passionately about his contempt for the human body his voice seems to emerge directly from the unfathomed depths of hell.  His mastery of the role is absolute.

When the lights come up on Patrick Connellan’s incredibly detailed set we immediately know where we are - a former family home which has been taken over by undomesticated single men, with darts sticking out of the lampshade, a bar mat antimacassar over the back of the armchair, and the carpet carpeted by empty bottles and beer cans.  Even the bubbling fish tank plays its part, while Tom Dexter Scott’s subtle lighting underlines the other-worldly episodes without being intrusive.

This is a really funny night at the theatre for lovers of black Irish humour with a sting in the tail.  After this magnificent swan-song we can only hope that Mark Babych’s work will continue to be seen in the north-west, even if it’s just touring to The Lowry.

The Seafarer is on at Bolton Octagon until Saturday 27 June 2009

Tickets: from £9.00

Evenings: Mon-Sat at 7.30pm

Matinees: Wednesday 17 and Saturday 27 May @ 2pm

Box Office: 01204 520661

www.octagonbolton.co.uk