Last Updated on August 21, 2025
Richard Bean’s latest play premieres at Hampstead Theatre
Reykjavik takes us back to February 1976 when, off the coast of Iceland, the Graham Greene, a fishing trawler, ices up and sinks in seconds, 15 of her crew going down with her. The owner of the trawler, Donald Claxton, who is despised by the crew, makes his way to Reykjavik to visit the few surviving men. The play imagines this life-changing evening during which the men drink, share stories and discuss relationships. While the tone is light at times with drunken banter and the telling of ghost stories, the underlying tension between the survivors and the boss is like a rising tide that reaches a breath-holding climax.
Written by Richard Bean (One Man, Two Guvnors), the world premiere of Reykjavik is directed by Emily Burns. It tells the story of a community and families devastated by the deaths at sea of their fishermen. As one of the characters says, there is nothing noble and patriotic about death at sea when your husband, father or son has perished for ‘for one half of a fish and chip supper’. Almost 20 years ago, Bean had a smash hit with his play Under The Whaleback and he revisits the theme of Hull and its shipping industry in Reykjavik.
While the play is entitled Reykjavik, the first half takes place in Hull in the office of the shipping firm headed up by Donald Claxton. He is visited by a young priest who introduces a new approach to management, suggesting Claxton show some on-the-ground compassion for the few survivors of the latest lost ship. The second half transfers to a 70’s hotel lobby in Reykjavik where four men and a corpse are waiting to return home. Here Claxton finds himself in unchartered waters, coming face to face with the crew whom he previously says he purposefully never gets to know. No longer distanced from the human beings he sends on dangerous missions in order to profit and line his corporate pockets – and provide jobs – he has to confront his guilt and their rage.
Hull was renowned for its deep sea fishing industry and trawlers like the fictional Graham Greene, called sidewinders were the backbone of its distant waters fleet. This is a topic about which many in the audience will be unfamiliar. Bean crafts his script with such skill that while quite a bit of information about the industry and details about distance fishing is shared, it never feels didactic or polemical. The script is peppered with humour yet is well balanced with pathos and moving scenes as well as entering the world of the supernatural. A mostly male cast, this play deals with male relationships, beginning with father and son and moving on to boss and workers, and dealing well with men’s difficulty expressing emotion. With enough alcohol imbibed, feelings are more easily expressed whether through violence or tenderness.
There is wonderful storytelling in the second act with each man having a chance to tell a story, ending with the Icelandic woman who runs the hotel entrancing the men with a local ghost story. In the programme note, we find out that Bean has used true stories and woven them into the script.
Burns keeps the play moving at a cracking pace, especially in the first act. Performances are strong throughout. Recently seen on the London stage during the summer John Hollingworth played Antony in the Shakespeare’s Globe production of Antony and Cleopatra. Here he plays a very different role as Donald Claxton, the despised owner of the trawler company that puts profit above the safety of the fishermen. Hollingwood commands the stage during the first act when he is in his own domain and begins to reveal more complex emotions as the second act proceeds and he comes face to face with the rage and grief of the survivors of an accident that is blamed on the weather but might be considered a case of corporate responsibility. Several actors doubled up, with Matthew Durkan putting in a wonderful performance as the angry and violent Jack Jopling. I would like to have seen more of Laura Elsworthy whose role as Lizzie was all too brief. Paul Hickey as the retired William Claxton in the first act was unrecognisable in the second act as Quayle who held the men and the audience spellbound through his storytelling. Not only is the acting strong, but the cast are also good singers, the sea shanties bringing the play to a moving conclusion. There are times when a song can express more than the spoken word and the ensemble singing is not only melodious but symbolic of the interdependence of the fishermen and their communities.
The second act might have benefitted from a trim as it felt repetitive at times – perhaps one too many stories – and certain relationships in the first act were never followed up in the second as the action moved from one city to another with a new set of characters, Claxton aside.
The stage design (Anna Reid) is strong in both acts and the lighting (Oliver Fenwick) which crackles with menace in the second act is particularly effective in evoking the supernatural world being evoked through the storytelling.
Next time you order a takeout of cod and chips spare a few thoughts for the men who risk their lives catching the fish.
Reykjavik plays at Hampstead Theatre until 23 November 2024.
Hampstead Theatre,
Eton Avenue,
Swiss Cottage,
London NW3 3EU
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