In this double bill of maritime narratives, Sea Stories sought to explore the profound connection between the West Wight coastline and the souls who traverse it.

Kevin Wilson’s direction ensured a cohesive nautical thread throughout both plays. He anchored the experience with pre-show sea shanties and a palette of deep blues, later reinforcing the theme through imagery, music and sound effects. The overall theme was good and it certainly got you in the mood for what was about to happen as you went to take your seat. It is a shame the theming didn’t stretch to recognizable costumes during the 1916 scenes in the second act where it was easy to become a little muddled with characters. The minimalist set was placed carefully using down right and down left on each side effectively, especially during the Telescope where one side represented the couple and the other the man with the telescope. The projection screen added to the overall effect especially during the storm scene in The Souvenir. Sound effects were well used and added to the atmosphere of the pieces but sometimes they did overpower the actors on stage.

The first play, The Telescope, follows a couple (Carolyn Ferguson and Russall Cooper) unnerved by a stranger (played by Tony Hinton) watching them from the clifftops. As the narrative oscillates between the couple’s paranoia and the observer’s solitude, a tragic parallel emerges: the wife is terminally ill, while the man on the cliff is navigating his own grief. Having lost his wife years prior, he uses the telescope to “document” his day to her memory. The piece culminates in a moving encounter between the two men, Peter and Charles, as they bridge their shared isolation to begin the healing process together. This scene was a touching moment and brought the story to a natural conclusion. Russall Cooper as Charles was a particular stand out in this piece and his character was able to carefully balance the light and shade throughout the progression of the story.

The second play entitled The Souvenir tells the true story of the wreck of the Norwegian barque which ran aground off Brook. Whilst many men were saved in the calamity sadly two individuals did perish including the captain having refused to leave his ship. With the West Wight being known over the centuries for its history of shipwrecks, most notably the wreck of the Clarendon, it was nice to see director Kevin Wilson drawing inspiration from the wreck of the Souvenir (a wreck many people may not have heard of) and the heroism of Ben Jacobs and the crew of the Susan Ashley on that fateful evening in 1916. The play was opened by Amanda Robertson who gave an evocative retelling of The Souvenir’s history with the story shifting between the day of the tragedy and the present day.

Specially written music for the Souvenir was written, performed and recorded by composer John Hacker and set the tone for the piece nicely as the story began. Daniel Pressey and Frederick Redmond as the captain of the Souvenir and Ben Jacobs both gave clear and well thought through story telling giving authentic emotion to each character’s role in the events of the day. Kevin Wilson and Sarah Kellett exchanged dialogues that portrayed the frustration often felt when one person is intransigent. The connection between the past and the present was very subtle throughout and left the audience to ponder unlike in the earlier story The Telescope.

Overall, both narratives sat comfortably under the Sea Stories banner, offering the audience themes to contemplate long after the curtain fell. The production was occasionally hampered by dropped lines, but this can be put down to first night nerves and is easily rectified, and I’m sure the show will hit its full momentum for the rest of the run.