Review - Nice Fish

 As a huge fan of actor Mark Rylance, when it was announced he would come to Brooklyn with his new play, Nice Fish, I knew I would be buying a ticket.  I adore him, frankly, and consider watching him onstage one of my greatest pleasures.  Since he won his Oscar a few weeks ago, I think even non-theater people are jumping onto the Rylance bandwagon.  My seat neighbors behind me had never heard of him but took their tickets off their friends' hands (and they didn't like him in Bridge of Spies, which rendered their opinion moot, in my opinion).  The couple on one side of me had heard of Boeing Boeing but didn't enjoy it and the couple on the other side of me was too busy drinking wine and falling asleep to be much of a barometer, but...oh well.  I had a grand time and it was maybe the perfect show to see on a tired Friday night.

Nice Fish consists of a series of vignettes, using the words of poet Louis Jenkins - if you don't know Jenkins' work, you have heard some if you've heard any of Rylance's Tony acceptance speeches.  Jenkins' prose poems are seemingly ordinary and banal, but as you keep listening, there are such interesting non-sequitors and complete changes of pace, that you never get into a 'poetry rut' when you're listening to them.  There's a distinct style to the phraseology, but it doesn't become rote.

Rylance, who worked on the script with Jenkins, says in the program that they've 'stitched together' passages from many poems to tell the story of two friends who are sitting on the ice for the last day of ice-fishing season.  Rylance plays Ron, an ice-fishing novice, who quickly begins losing things down the hole he's drilled (the opening scenes, where Ron is drilling by hand and his friend Erik drills with a power saw are funny sight gags, the first of many).  Erik is a more experienced fisherman who is looking for one big catch.  Both gents tell whimsical stories, of fishing, of life and death, of man and beast, of many things.  Their stories can be funny, either purposefully (Ron is quite a cut up) or inadvertently (Erik is a bit of an existential sad sack).  Most of the scenes, separated by blackouts, are between Ron and Erik, who seem to take on a bit of a Waiting for Godot vibe, but we do meet other characters who are just as quirky: an officer who comes out onto the ice to explain the intricacies of ice-fishing licenses (it's funny, trust me), a spear-fisherman who is longing for the good old days, and his granddaughter, a flaky philosopher.

photo credit: Teddy Wolff

All of the actors seem to be having the time of their lives with this eccentric piece - there is whimsy and light-heartedness, but there is also serious rumination on the meaning of life. Often in the same vignette.  I was completely entranced by everything happening, from the wonderful acting, to the interesting poetry/dialogue, to the beautiful sets and lights, and the well-done direction.  I had a smile on my face and uttered admiring 'hmmmmms' throughout the 95-minute running time.  Rylance, of course, is a first among equals.  I tell you, he creates characters down to the smallest, most minute, detail.  Everything could seem calculated or planned, but it's not.  It's completely spontaneous and in the moment.  But, as I said before, I already love him, so... But even his curtain call was enchanting!   The other actors totally match Rylance's excellence, though, and they are a wonderful ensemble, working off each other beautifully.

This was my first trip out to St. Ann's Warehouse - I got a little turned around when I got off the subway and my phone's GPS was no help, but I did eventually find my way there.  Finding my way back was much easier because I finally figured out where I was.  Now that I have my internal GPS turned on, I'll be able to go back and enjoy myself.  The lights of the bridge were lovely, so I took some photos around the theater.  I'll put them at the bottom.  The theater had some empty seats last night, so I'd say you should all go see Nice Fish.  You won't see anything like it again any time soon, plus, hello, Mark Rylance!  :)