Hugh Jackman is a powerful presence in Jez Butterworth’s play, The River: he’s handsome, physically agile, wonderfully charming, and clear spoken. He makes a seduction pitch that young swains might memorize. It’s irresistible. His ploy of seduction is to take a woman to his cabin in the woods to go fishing.
There’s an awful lot about fishing in the play; how to fish, emotional reactions when one is caught, we even get to watch his character gut, clean, and cut up a fish (with no dialogue during its long procedure -- there was more meat on the fish than there is in the script) as he interacts with his latest conquest, the strong, beautiful, emotionally flexible Cush Jumbo. She’s a treat to behold.
Semi-philosophical analogies are made, but they are mostly pretentions horseshit, and the events and flashbacks are often confusing in this 85-minute surreal play.
Laura Donnelly is magnetic as a figure from the past (or present?), and Jessica Love is a clarifying addition. The River is well designed by Ultz and nicely lighted by Charles Balfour, and director Ian Rickson has done his best to stage it so that the audience on three sides of the stage can see and hear. Yes, it’s the actual movie star and stage-award winner right there, rather close to you, and that is enough to fill the theater with Jackman fans.
