Review: SORRY WE DIDN'T DIE AT SEA, Park Theatre

Society is failing its citizens. Migrants are forced to choose between dying at sea or perishing in their home country, their lives seen as expendable collaterals of governmental games.

Emanuele Aldrovandi’s play enjoyed a decently successful run at the Seven Dials Playhouse earlier in the summer; it’s now making waves at the Park. Translated by Marco Young and directed by Daniel Emery, it’s a light stance against the misgivings of the so-called “immigration problem”. In a not-so-distant nor too dystopian future, Europe is in ruins. The economy has collapsed and isolationist politics have closed the borders. Three people have trusted their smuggler to lock them in a shipping container bound for faraway shores. Day and night look the same in this liminal space, floating between life and death, danger and safety.

At its core, Sorry We Didn’t Die at Sea is a tad too simplistic to make a proper splash. It has a Beckettian aura to it, but this is, sadly, left unexploited. Absurdist black humour shape-shifts into smart thriller and back in engaging flourishes that explode in often magnetic moments. It explores what happens when humanity isn’t an option anymore, but fails to give sturdy contextual arguments as well as precise commentary. It offers generalised leftist notions with a dash of right-wing antagonism while compelling philosophical questions rise alongside the political reasoning. The team introduce bucketloads of topical ideas, but rarely dig into them. Just like the character of The Tall One, it deals a lot in modest hypotheticals.

When The Stocky One, The Beautiful One, and The Tall One meet The Burly One, their fate is sealed. They pay him $1000 in advance to be matched by the same amount once they arrive at their destination, sharing nothing besides the desire to emigrate. Where are they off to? No one knows for certain. The Burly One becomes their jailer, a satanic minion who delights in resorting to intimidation. Nobody cares about their background, how wealthy or educated each of them is; they are - quite literally - on the same boat. The concept has boundless potential and, in fairness, a good portion of it is realised in the absurdity of their debacles.

But there is no sense of urgency, no tension whatsoever. Jamie Lu ’s sound design guides the audience’s emotional response and the actors are irreproachable, but the text somewhat falls short. Aldrovandi’s play is a comedy that wants to be sociopolitically relevant, but comes off a little confused by its own purpose. The Burly One establishes the power dynamic immediately. Then, microphone in hand, he goes off on oneiric tangents where he recites Wikipedia pages to himself with a dreamy slant. The curtain that acts as the ISO container that holds them comes forward and turns into his unlikely stage.

Felix Garcia Guyer’s charisma is magnetic and these indentations are easily the highlight of the production, but they don’t truly have any repercussions on its plot. Will Bishop (The Tall One), Yasmine Haller (The Beautiful One), and Marco Young (The Stocky One) are completely at his mercy. Their characters are a mix of nervous dispositions, self-righteousness, and despair. They go from stoic to resigned, from cooperative to threatening. The trio handles farce and drama smoothly with remarkable flexibility and steady direction by Emery, who contains the action with limited movement. It’s a shame he doesn’t create much of a claustrophobic atmosphere, opting to have bright lights and a relatively airy space instead.

All the elements of a great project are there, but it seems like it could be further tightened and focused. The logistics of the whole situation are delivered too haphazardly to hit as hard as the real headlines currently do. The piece points the spotlight at the varying causes that push people to leave their home country, humanising their respective motives regardless of the nobility of their nature. The hypocrisy that surrounds the matter comes to light brilliantly, as well as the horrifying travelling conditions, the abuse of power of those who make a profit out of human life, and mankind’s selfishness.

The structure of the play is unquestionably intriguing and the company is a talented bunch, but the underlying commentary that makes the bones of such a story could be stronger. It’s a bleak dark comedy that tips its toes into politics and strives to be as genre-neutral as it can afford to. Often lighthearted but arresting in its premise, the show is impossible to pigeonhole.

Could it be better? Yes. Is it worth seeing? Why not. Will it change anybody’s mind regarding immigration? Probably not, but there will be lots to talk about at the bar afterwards.

Sorry We Didn't Die at Sea runs at the Park Theatre until 30 September.

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