Having just completed a sold out New York run, the hit-comedy show Nice Fish, co-written by Mark Rylance and Louis Jenkins hits the London stage. Rylance performs as a perfect clown, with impeccable comedic timing.Jenkins’ prose-poetry is showcased during this production in the form of absurd, quirky monologues – making Nice Fish an excitingly odd piece of theatre. Set on a vast sheet of ice, Erik (Jim Lichtscheidl) has brought his buddy Ron (Mark Rylance) on a mid-life ice-fishing trip to bond.
Lichtschedil's Erik is serious, weighed down by action and responsibility. Erik’sjaded nature is beautifully complimented by Ron; whose child-like sense of wonderment and love for trivial jokes is masterfully portrayed by the effervescent Rylance. Whilst Erik attempts to ground himself firmly in reality, Ron finds himself both dazzled and confused by the world around him. As frustrations build between them, the actor’s chemistry onstage is undeniable.
Director Claire Van Kampen has cleverly utilised the comedy of the piece to highlight the morose nature that underlies it, much like Jenkin’s poetry. Comedic action is punctuated by harsh black-outs, crashes, wolves howling and ice cracking – with some impressively quick set changes.
Alongside Rylance and Lichtscheidl, the play boasts stand-out performances from Raye Birk and Bob Davis. Birk easily dons the grizzled attitude of elderly spear fisherman Wayne with nuggets of sagely wisdom, such as “the human race will either evolve or go extinct.”
In a similar vein, Davis, who portrays The DNR man obsessed with rules and regulations, uses the petty and monotonous dialogue of his character to great comedic effect. Then he reveals dedication to his job has achieved him some kind of sainthood, which results in him floating slightly off the ground. Here the piece begins to abandon the reality of the harsh snow and ice, and enters into a more obscure and fascinating realm.
Ron also creates a kinship with a Wayne’s granddaughter Flo, (Kayli Carter) an educated pixie-like dreamer who quotes Moby Dick. Though played with strength, Flo’s dialogue unfortunately feels slightly too wise for her years.
Todd Rosenthal’s bleak snowy set feels never-ending and is strikingly punctuated by flashes of colour; for example sparklyfibre-optic palm tree. Toying with perspective, the set creates vast distances with delightful detailed life-like miniature puppets in the background.
Ending with a clever unexpected image,the piece holds a sense of bewilderment about life. Despite the fact I think the meta-theatrics in parts were misplaced, the piece admirably has a mind of its own. It is unorthodox, inherently philosophical and blissfully performed, and I would recommend anyone with a whimsical yet dark sense of humour to grab a seat.
Robin and Hazel are two retired nuclear scientists living on the edge of an exclusion zone set up in light of a cataclysmic event that occurred at the nuclear plant where they used to work — leaving the surrounding area with dangerous levels of radiation. Rose an old friend and colleague turns up having apparently not visited for years with frightening intentions: she is going back to the power plant to “clean up the mess” that she and her contemporaries created.