“Call me Ishmael”…

There is simply no shaking the reverence which the line (and the novel it opens) carries. Herman Melville’s 1851 epic about a whaling expedition and its captain’s hell-bent quest for revenge on the white whale that took his leg has captured imaginations for close to 180 years whilst fashioning philosophy and psychology theory in its wake. It is also no stranger to adaptation. Whether it’s John Huston’s 1956 film feature starring Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab, Philip Jose Farmer’s sequel novel The Wind Whales Of Ishmael or even Moby Dick! The Musical (a West End comedy-musical set around a girls’ boarding-school’s production of the tale), the story is one that continually inspires deconstruction, analysis and retelling.

Now, French-Norwegian company Plexus Polaire (no stranger’s to adaptation themselves having already produced a retelling of Bram Stoker’s Dracula) set their hands to the tiller. Helmed by company Artistic Director Yngvild Aspeli this collaborative creation from the minds and bodies of the team of actor-puppeteers (Pierre Devérines, Sarah Lascar, Daniel Collados, Alice Chéné, Viktor Lukawski, Maja Kunsic, Andreu Martinez Costa) has worked its way across the bloated carcass of Herman Melville’s novel and served up only the richest morsels in a finely distilled production.

From the deck of the ship to the depths below, the cast build and shape the world of the source material. The images this ensemble are capable of producing on stage are nothing short of mesmeric and the show is more than happy to allow them the space and time to breathe, afloat and awash in their own spectacle. What they don’t create, our minds fill in – our imaginations running into overdrive to flesh out this vast world peopled by marionettes. These episodes are woven together by peels of dynamism that ring out – along with a resonant, dissonant score (composed and performed by Guro Skumsnes Moe, Ane Marthe Sørlien Holen and Havard Skaset) – that lends an undulating ebb and flow to the piece as a whole. At times, within the packed auditorium you could have heard a pin drop against a background of whalesong.

All along Xavier Lescat and Vincent Loubière’s lighting design illuminates the action, guiding our attention as light dances across Polina Borisova, Yngvild Aspeli, Manon Dublanc, Sebastien Puech and Elise Nicod’s puppets, picking them from the depths whilst masking the inner workings of the show. The novel is by no means a barrel of laughs, but Plexus Polaire’s adaptation brings a darker edge to proceedings. A haunting gothic presence permeates the atmosphere at all times – the work feels dangerous, the crew abrasive and the sea unwelcoming – but this does not stop elements of pathos and poignancy (as well as a vein of dryly dark humour) from making it to the surface at welcome intervals.

With Moby Dick, Plexus Polaire have built something that is truly extraordinary. This thunderous and thought-provoking adaptation breathes life into a well-worn novel and rediscovers it anew in a portrayal that bestows a humanity on its subject matter that would be difficult to achieve in any other medium. Puppet-led shows of this scale sadly remain a rarity on the touring circuit but, although largely uncharted waters for now, given this show’s popularity that will not remain the case for long.

Theatre Royal, Thursday 25th May 2023