Theatre review: Moby Dick

After a few years away, simple8 are returning with a new play later this year, but first they're reviving a former hit with a touring production of Moby Dick. I last saw Sebastian Armesto's adaptation of the book that set the template for the Great American Novel 11 years ago at the Arcola, but for the London leg this time it relocates to Wilton's Music Hall, a venue whose long history does include a connection to sailors and sea shanties, so seems a good match for a demented revenge drama that takes place mostly at sea. Ahab (Guy Rhys) captains a 19th century whaling ship, on a mission to hunt down sperm whales and use their blubber to power the world's lamps. But for him the mission he's actually being paid for is secondary, as on a past voyage he encountered a notoriously aggressive, unusually white whale nicknamed Moby Dick, that's been known to turn the tables on whalers and sink the ships.

Ahab's own meeting with the whale resulted in him losing a leg, and he's taken it personally: For him this voyage is all about revenge, and he's sailing the Pequod to areas Moby Dick has been spotted. He wants to be the one who takes his nemesis down, and he swears the whole crew to loyalty to the same mission.

But the story saves Ahab himself for later, as we begin with the narrator Ishmael (Mark Arends) seeking an adventure on sea, and meeting the seemingly fearsome Queequeg (Tom Swale,) who soon becomes his closest friend. Together they choose the Pequod as their next ship, and get caught up in Ahab's madness. On the one hand this works because it allows the captain to build as an unseen, mythical figure before he finally emerges; on the other I did think Jesse Jones' production took a while to really build up energy or any sense of urgency.

Rhys' arrival does help kick things up a notch, and he doesn't overplay the obsession - his Ahab is a charismatic figure who flatters and cajoles his crew into going along with his personal vendetta. In fact it's only the brief appearance by another whaling ship captain, Boomer (James Newton) that really throws his reaction into focus: Boomer has recently lost an arm to Moby Dick, but he's almost dismissive of the loss, a pragmatic response to what happens when you choose a career hunting down and killing a potentially dangerous animal.

I particularly liked these moments that throw into relief subtler ironies in the story, like the fact that Starbuck (Hannah Emanuel) and Stubb's (William Pennington) attempted mutiny almost saves the day, only for Ishmael himself to spot the white whale and kick off the final confrontation. Elsewhere I felt like some of the story elements might have been toned down a bit, possibly as this touring version is aiming to attract a family audience: The more horrific elements of the whaling trade, and therefore the story's overwheming enivronmental message, seemed to be swiftly dealt with, and the racist treatment of Queequeg as a savage also barely alluded to.

Overall this didn't have quite the intensity or atmosphere I remembered from the last time I saw it, which may simply be a side-effect of having to adjust the show to slightly different audiences and less intimate spaces. But Kate Bunce's designs still make a lot out of simple props - the bare-ish stage gradually building up a ship of wooden boards and scaffolding - which will hopefully enchant some of those younger audiences with theatre's ability to create a world out of very little.

Moby Dick by Sebastian Armesto, based on the novel by Herman Melville is booking until the 11th of May at Wilton's Music Hall; then continuing on tour to Ipswich, Newcastle upon Tyne, St Mary's Island (Scilly,) Blackpool, York, Malvern and Oxford.

Running time: 2 hours 5 minutes including interval.

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan.