CityLife

The Seafarer

AFTER a remarkable 10 years in charge, artistic director Mark Babych is leaving the Octagon, this is his farewell production.

There isn’t the space here to pay Mark the tribute he so richly deserves.   But, in a nutshell, the quality and range of the work he has either directed himself or commissioned during his reign, has made the Octagon one of Britain’s leading repertory theatres.  

This is an achievement all the more remarkable when it is remembered that before he arrived the blundering Arts Council wanted to shut it down.  

Excellent results  

Bolton, in particular, and the whole of the north west, owe Mark a huge thank-you.  

So, The Seafarer. It’s by award-winning Irish playwright Conor McPherson, one of Babych’s favourites, as he has already directed his The Weir and Shining City here in the recent past, and done so with excellent results.  

This time however he isn’t entirely on target.   We are back in familiar, recovering alcoholic, McPherson territory - a run-down house in a coastal town north of Dublin, where the inhabitants are nursing hangovers and trying to remember the night before.  

Boozing bully  

The recently blinded Richard is a boozing bully and his brother Sharky has been reduced to being his keeper.  

It’s Christmas Eve and two of Richard’s drinking buddies drop by, bringing with them the mysterious Mr Lockhart.  

While the booze again flows, what started out as a light-hearted domestic comedy of manners suddenly becomes much darker and serious when a game of cards is really a battle for Sharkey’s soul…  

Booze-sodden male world  

Dark secrets and haunting stories among a bunch of losers, spiritual barrenness in a claustrophobic booze-sodden male world, it’s not exactly a tourist authority advert for the Emerald Isle, but it is amusing and gripping, with an unexpected climax.  

The original National Theatre production however – directed by the author – was funnier and more gripping than Babych and his team manage here. It’s to do with timing and delivery and there’s a lack of visual atmosphere, too.  

Angry and sour  

The second half, mostly revolving around the card game, is tighter and the performances are better focused, with Peter Dineen, as the angry and sour blind brother, particularly convincing.  

Not fair to compare the Octagon with the National?  

Well, you wouldn’t say that if you’d seen Oleanna here a couple of weeks ago and while Seafarer is a three star rather than a four, it is still an adventurous choice of play and well worth a punt.  

Until June 27

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