Nice Fish (Harold Pinter Theatre)

I haven't seen Nice Fish yet, but I must admit, I caught myself thinking this exact same thing the other day!

I saw this Saturday night, and loved it.

Don't go if you want a narrative. There isn't one. This play is a compilation of the prose poems of Louis Jenkins, shaped by Mark Rylance into a series of vignettes, comic, downbeat and surreal. The description "pseudo-Beckett" is accurate in so far as it is about two men hanging about, who then hang about with two other people, but this didn't seem pretentious (aka pseudo) to me. Rather it is a warm, affectionate reflection of Louis Jenkin's sometimes wacky, sometimes forthright, always honest appraisal of life.

Here's the most fun Jenkins poem I found on the internet, for those who want a taster: www.yourdailypoem.com/listpoem.jsp?poem_id=97

Not so long ago, Jeremy Paxman was bemoaning the death of poetry, saying that even the top-selling poetry collection today sells an unprofitably low amount of copies. He pointed out that selling 15,000 copies puts you in the top ten titles sold in a year, and he suggested that the way to rescue the delights of poetry, that Shakespeare so successfully once shared with the masses, would be to abandon poetry collections and package poetry differently. That's what this production succeeds in doing, just as "Cats" once did with TS Elliot's poems, or Dylan Thomas did with "Under Milk Wood."

On seeing the set, I had deja vu, as some twenty years ago, I was part of the audience that watched the live recording of the "Ice Fishing" episode of "Frasier," in which Niles and Frasier bickered over how much Niles loved ice-fishing, and how much Frasier didn't, the two men perched over a hole in the ice. This is more surreal than Frasier, or it's parent sitcom, "Cheers," but what "Nice Fish" and "Cheers" and "Frasier" all have in common is that they depict how lovely it is when very different people are simply together, the importance of some form of community, even when there is little common ground.

I liked Jim Lichtscheidl's downbeat monosyllabic Erik, who reminded me of the deadpan comedian, Steven Wright, with his downbeat take of the human condition. I loved Mark Rylance's feckless Ron, whose wired enthusiasm, which rises to vertiginal heights, is delightful in itself, but also because we anticipate the comic fall to follow. And most of all, I loved the gobby cheeriness of Kayli Carter's Flo, whose ingratiating expressions would suddenly drop away to reveal the terror, fear and emptiness concealed beneath.

Yes, it's not a story, but it's far too modest, warm and affectionate to be taken as an attempt to top Beckett. And I imagine it's more likely to put a smile on your face, and less likely to leave you baffled. To me, this felt like a warm fire on a cold night.

4 stars.

We were sat there, I think the price the view is pretty good (if not perfect) I really enjoyed the puppetry but the sudden darkness tactic is getting very tiresome. The Sewing Group employs it too and I think I dislike it as technique because it feels like something Katie Mitchell would do. 

Where u at the Sewing Group last Tuesday?

Ha! No. You where first in the queue. I thought it was u and kept looking at u smiling! I was on the stairs with my brother. Do u remember when u had sat down two guys walking up the steps to the seats and one of them fell over? That was my brother!

Mediocre play which Rylance can't save because, in any case, he's too busy playing his Rylance persona. I've read the posts which praise the poetry. I love poetry and will happily go to a poetry reading. But I see no need to parcel it as a play.

There are some good lines - both comic and poetic, sometimes even both - but as a play it simply does not add up.

Loved the puppets.

I thought this was average, though the acting was good.

Is this worth catching? I'm a fan of Rylance, but not heard great things.

I ditched my ticket and got a refund when Dreamgirls came up. Because, ya know, priorities.

I wamte to go and see Mark Rylance, as I have never seen him live before... but, like most om here, when you get the oppertunity to see Dreamgirls and win that lottery, you take it!

And I got my money back so no complaint here!

I have a free show slot and narrowed it down to nice fish and this house. What do people who have seen both recommend? I can only fit one in.

But remember that This House doesn't interest everybody, so I wouldn't recommend everyone who doesn't like the idea of Nice Fish to trot off to This House!