REVIEW: THE RIVER by Jez Butterworth at Greenwich Theatre 1 – 27 October 2024

Photo credit: Danny with a Camera

‘Baffling, clunky  play on a good set’ ★★

When this play debuted at the Royal Court in 2012,  Michael Billington described it as “slightly unfathomable”. That is an understatement. It is totally incomprehensible. About two thirds of the way in it becomes clear, to this reviewer’s relief, that we’re not actually meant to know what’s going on. That may be an interesting and clever dramatic trope but it hardly makes for engaging theatre. Subtlety can be just too subtle and nuance too nuanced.

Let’s start with the good bits. Emily Bestow’s set is splendid. We’re meant to be in a remote cabin (no idea where) belonging to the unnamed Man’s family. He goes there for sea trout fishing, often taking a woman with him. Bestow creates a plausible cabin on two levels with old fashioned fridge, gas cooker and sink in a kitchen above a downstage living area. It is semi-encased in wooden timbers. And because the cabin is on a big river, sound designer Julian Starr provides powerful watery noises and we get a good sense of the weather and power of nature outside from Henry Slater’s flickery lighting.

Also noteworthy is the quality of Paul McGann’s acting as the rather wooden central character in whom he finds a lot of understated, troubled stillness. He works well too with both Kerri Maclean and Amanda Ryan as the two women at the hut with him – or are they just in his memory? Maybe they’re ghosts?  These seem to be interchangeable and some of the scenes repeat. There’s a third woman at the very end too. And a framing device involving a child … no, I have no idea either. There is an audibility issue with all this too. The dialogue is directed (James Haddrell) to flow very naturalistically and, from row G, I missed quite a bit of it.

It is, moreover, clumsy  for large chunks of a play to consist of two characters telling each other what they’ve said and done off stage when they both know because they were there. It makes for very clunky dialogue contrived presumably just to inform the audience.

I go to the theatre to be entertained, challenged, moved, amused and shocked, among other things. I don't go to be baffled.  Even on press night when there were large numbers of cognoscenti in the house the applause, at the end of this 80 minute piece, was polite but palpably puzzled.  

The River runs until 27 October. https://greenwichtheatre.org.uk/whats-on/

Susan Elkin has been reviewing theatre for over 30 years.