REVIEW: RICHARD PARKER by Owen Thomas at Bridge House Theatre April 24 – May 6, 2023

‘Existential, idiosyncratic drama that combines philosophy with dark wit’★★★

Quietly reading a book on a ferry, a single male passenger is approached by a strange man, dressed in too dark, too many clothes for a sunny day. A bizarre conversation ensues, and it turns out both have the same name…Richard Parker. This is also the name of a character in an 1838 story by Edgar Allen Poe where some men lost at sea are forced to eat the cabin boy. And, by a curious quirk, forty years later, life imitated art when four men also cast adrift ate another cabin boy with the same unfortunate name…Richard Parker, to survive.

“Coincidence is my constant companion” says the darkly dressed Richard Parker (unsettlingly channeled by Luke Adamson) and this is the curious premise on which this conundrum of a play is based. It offers audiences not a linear storyline but one shaped around concentric circles. The darkly dressed one is clearly a bit of a nut job, akin to an Internet conspiracy theorist who studies history and the world around him for obscure coincidences. These give a feverish meaning to his life, and he believes mark out a pre-determined route. When events take a turn for the worst, will he be proved right?  

An hour long, two- hander that combines dark wit with questions such as ‘why are we here? What determines our life’s direction? Is there such a thing as destiny? and do we have agency?’ In many ways, these are idea topics for pub theatre; the same questions have probably been probed over frothy pints across centuries. With so many existential questions at its thematic root, this play combines theatre with philosophy and black comedy. It’s a wordy play, the dialogue is formal and it could arguably be more dynamically realized. (It would make an excellent radio play.)  But that’s not to take away from an absorbing and entertaining hour well spent in a beautiful pub in leafy SE20. 

Since 2017, when it was first performed at The Hope, we’ve all become aware of survival on small boats. This imagery has since become politicized and infused with distressing meaning. This play, while not about migration is about extreme situations, desperate measures and the need to survive. It also makes you think about the people in such dire straits for real.

Luke Adamson who starred in the original production at The Hope alongside Daniel Bottomley, has been Artistic Director of the Bridge House since 2021, and now stars in this production alongside Joseph Lindoe, Associate Director. Both actors, directors and producers, this is their first joint performance in a year and a half for the season’s first In House Production. The Bridge House Theatre offers opportunities for emerging theatre makers who are traditionally under-represented including working class, global majority, non-binary, LGBTQ+ and Neuro Divergent and if you needed a reason to visit Penge, The Bridge House Theatre is it.

Box Office: https://thebridgehousetheatre.co.uk/shows/richard-parker/

Reviewed by Nilgin Yusuf

An experienced author, lecturer and journalist (ex-Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph and ELLE) Nilgin is developing her first full-length stage play, supported by Mrs.C’s Collective and the Arts Council