Jez Butterworth’s The River is currently running at Greenwich Theatre in its first major revival.
We caught up with director James Haddrell and actor Paul McGann to find out more about this important production.
Dates: to 27 Oct
https://greenwichtheatre.org.uk/events/jez-butterworths-the-river/
James, The River is back in its first major revival since 2012. What drew you to programme it for Greenwich?
In a very pragmatic way, Jez Butterworth’s name has been everywhere again this year, thanks to The Hills Of California, so programming his work felt like a commercially savvy move.
However, I have been pursuing the rights for the play for a couple of years, since before I knew about the new play. I think I have always liked work which revels in ambiguity,
I love playing with the mechanisms of storytelling, which this play does too, and I love the lyrical quality of the writing.
The play seems to tread the fine line between naturalism and theatricality incredibly well, constantly wrong-footing the audience while doing so with a series of naturalistic scenes.
How does your production differ from the original one at Royal Court Upstairs?
There is one very significant change for our production, which comes courtesy of Jez Butterworth.
Halfway through the rehearsal period for this production I had a meeting with Jez and, while stating that The River is his favourite of all of his plays, he decided to rewrite the opening and closing moments of the play, and to make quite a significant change to the sense of the play in doing so.
That was very exciting for us – it involved a series of late logistical challenges to deliver the changes, but it means that we are effectively premiering a new version of the play.
At only 80 minutes, you have to ensure a tale is told simply and effectively. Is this more challenging than an epic production?
In many ways, yes that’s right. In particular for a play like this, which is designed to remain ambiguous and to leave the audience disorientated and doubting themselves.
Our challenge is to tell the story economically, as if it were a single narrative, taking the interwoven storylines in our stride and retaining the realism and the naturalism in each moment, even when the effects of those moments may not seem real.
Paul, tell me about your character, The Man. He sounds quite a mysterious, otherworldly character, more interested in fishing that people!
He’s a man who since he was a boy has been coming to this same place, a cabin owned by his uncle (who we never see), to fish the nearby river.
When he brings a new girlfriend one late August he declares his love for her and our story begins. If anything it’s the woman who’s mysterious, at least the one he thinks he’s looking for.
You’ve performed at Greenwich Theatre before. What do you like most about it as an actor?
The Greenwich Theatre space itself is very actor friendly.
It’s a good room, and just enough of a challenge to keep you honest, if you know what I mean. It’s my third time working here and I’m certain it won’t be the last.
Photo credit: Danny With a Camera