Daisy Hall’s latest production, following her debut Bellringers, presents a tense premise: survivors of a whaling ship stranded in arctic ice struggle to navigate their dire situation as the frozen environment groans around them. Directed by Lucy Morrison, the play centers on a trio of men tethered to their ship, the Dogstar, while their surroundings deteriorate.
The character dynamics are defined by their distinct roles and histories. Babben, played by Justin Edwards, is an experienced hand with nearly 40 years of whaling behind him. He is joined by the unpredictable, gun-toting Gorey, portrayed by Adam Rojko Vega, and the youngest survivor, Sam, played by Abdul Jalloh, who appears paralyzed by mounting anxiety. The men share a grim history, having lost several comrades and casting blame on one another, including accusations of “bad luck” stemming from Sam’s killing of a baby whale. Further haunting the crew is the ever-present threat of scurvy, which brings both physical decay and terrifying hallucinations. And most strait-laced, is Sam (Abdul Jalloh) who seems imm, babben (Justin Edwards) is an old hand who has whaled for almost 40 years; Gorey (Adam Rojko Vega) is a mischief-maker who walks around with a gun; the youngest. To which many shipmates have succumbed and these men fear, with all its hallucinatory effects, there is also the Damoclean sword of scurvy.
Despite the high-stakes setup, the production struggles to maintain momentum. The dialogue often loops in repetitive, goldfish-like circles, attempting a form of Beckettian absurdism through the characters’ forced stasis and bickering. However, the play frequently feels caught between a ghost story and a mutiny drama, failing to fully commit to either the eerie tension or the exploration of power dynamics. The ailing, off-stage captain becomes a focal point for the survivors’ grievances, particularly regarding the ship’s over-exploitation of nature, which the script utilizes as a blunt metaphor for modern environmental depletion.
The narrative becomes increasingly cryptic with the introduction of the shipowner, Michael Carmichael, whose presence appears to manifest through visions or potential symptoms of scurvy. When Sam mysteriously begins wearing the missing owner’s watch and dressing-gown, the play teeters on deeper questions of identity that remain largely unresolved. Ultimately, the production’s enigmatic conclusion and lack of narrative power prevent it from successfully navigating the turbulent themes it sets out to explore at London’s Hampstead Theatre.
