The Seafarer – O’Punkskys and Darlinghurst Theatre Company

Overview

The Seafarer is an example of dramatic tension at its finest: an uncomplicated plot, few characters, and a dark, unnerving twist at the end of the first act that settles on you like a cold hand on the back of the neck.

The entire play is set in the living room of a house shared by two brothers on the northern coast of Ireland: Richard (Maeliosa Stafford), who is blind, demanding, and in need of a wash; and 'Sharky' (Patrick Dickson), cantankerous but attentive to his brother's needs. Their hopeless but cheery friend Ivan (Patrick Connolly) hangs around worrying about his wife's impending anger and swigging Irish whisky with Richard when Sharky's back is turned. The humorous but repetitive to-and-froing between them paints a picture of isolation, middle age, and the burden of family. The scene is mildly depressing despite the lively banter and the pleasure of Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, a friend of Richard's (John O'Hare) pops in for a dram of whisky and brings a mysterious guest (William Zappa) in a sharp suit to play cards. Sharky is left with him momentarily as the others are outside chasing off the winos, which is when the stranger reveals his identity. Suddenly, the stakes are far higher than Sharky thought and a back-aching, drawn-out tension grips the second act.

The characters bumble around, losing their drinks, knocking over furniture. Blindness is a recurring affliction: Richard's recent loss of sight from an accident, Ivan's short-sightedness from the loss of his glasses on another drunken night, the state of blind drunkenness they all eventually reach to forget everything for a while because it's the holidays, after all.

The actors fit the characters like a smelly foot into a pair of thick woollen socks, and the set is perfectly homely and shabby, which makes the Christian mythology feel contemporary and (for an atheist) kind of believable.

The happy turn of events at the end is surprising, like a weak but hopeful ray of light that peers through the window after a dark, endless night. It is the light of redemption, a second chance. Suddenly, as one does when they are forced to reappraise everything that is important to them, things don't seem so bad. Mistakes have been made in the past but it's the things like smoked salmon on rye at Christmas and the unbreakable bonds of family that make life worth living, the second chance worth grasping with all your might and never letting go.

The Seafarer is inspired by an eighth-century Anglo-Saxon poem of the same name, and it is an incredible feat of theatre that it continues to work so well for a modern, secular audience. Written by Conor McPherson in 2006 and put on in Sydney for the first time by director Maeliosa Stafford, The Seafarer is definitely worthy of the numerous awards it has bagged.