Moby Dick is a stunning example of theatre’s capacity to transport an audience finds reviewer Max Crowland
The idea of taking Moby Dick, one of the great American novels, and reimagining it as a great French-Norwegian play might seem as warped as the extent of Captain Ahab's obsessive pursuit of revenge on a giant whale – and that's before you hear the cast consists of seven human actors and 50 puppets.
Luckily for audiences, however, this Yngvild Aspeli-directed Plexus Polaire production does not share the fate of Ahab's voyage. While the idea of seafaring-puppet adaptations of American classics may bring to mind Muppet Treasure Island, any Kermit comparisons are cast away with Moby Dick's chilling opening scene, indicating the sombre shape of things to come.
A mix of masterful puppetry, a live score from the onstage band and ingenious projection immediately transports you straight into the hull of a nineteenth-century whaling boat, where you are unable to distinguish which of your crewmates are human and which are beautifully crafted wood and papier-mâché puppets. It is in these brooding and atmospheric scenes with sound, visuals and puppet performance working in harmony that the production is at its best.
Breathless and intense sequences like this were scattered throughout the performance, interspersed with narration from the human Ishmael, whose chipper tone and costume more befitting of an extra in Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou than a crewmate sailing the treacherous Atlantic Ocean, seemed slightly at odds with the world so effectively created elsewhere in the production.
These more cloying moments, coupled with the short 85-minute runtime, mean weightier adaptations and explorations of the novel's themes may be found elsewhere, but this feels beside the point. The story of Moby Dick in this case is a vehicle to showcase original and breathtaking techniques, which portray scenes from the novel in ways that more traditional depictions could not achieve.
The Pequod's battles with the life-sized white whale seem surreal to witness on the Barbican stage.
The heartbreaking demise of Pip as he is dragged under the choppy ocean leaves the audience gasping for air. And Ahab's descent into madness is portrayed by both a life-sized and giant-sized puppet, manipulated using both strings and on-stage movement by the humans in the cast, with more expression than that of which some human actors are capable.
Plexus Polaire's Moby Dick is a stunning example of theatre's capacity to transport an audience and create a powerful atmosphere, engulfing you in crashing waves. If you are looking for a performance that showcases the potential of puppetry as a medium - here she blows.