Above pic : Ewen Leslie as The Man in Jez Butterworth’s THE RIVER at the Sydney Opera House. Pic Daniel Boud.
On a crisp night in a remote cabin perched above a winding river, a man, simply called The Man, is with a woman, simply called The Woman, he has invited to share a weekend with him.
The conversation goes well. He tells her of his love of nature, in particular his love of trout fishing.
“If you catch a trout, it’s like catching a lightning bolt. It’s like jamming your finger in to a socket. Like a million sunsets rolled in to a ball and shot straight in to your veins. And you feel it. By God, you feel it.”
He will catch the trout and then come back to the cabin. The Woman is impressed, however she has to leave the cabin because she has misplaced some precious jewellery which she is hoping to find.
After a brief time, a woman enters the cabin but this is not the same woman. Simply called The Other Woman, and they speak to each as if they have known each other for a long time.
We, the audience, ask ourselves what exactly is going on? It is in this style that the playwright Jez Butte\worth write this play, keeping the audience guessing, as to what is going to happen, and indeed even as to wha THE RIVER is about.
Now I have to say, straight up, that I prefer theatre which has an easy to follow narrative, and where my enjoyment is in gathering together, collecting the meaning, the themes, that the play brings up. Butterworth’ play was the antithesis of this. Everyone I spoke to had a different opinion as to what is was about. Needless to say I didn’t have great time with THE RIVER.
I will give my view of the play to be placed in to ‘the bucket’ of opinions that reside with Butterworth’s play. I saw the play as being a portrait of a deeply flawed man, a romantic man who is stuck wth grief for an early relationship that he has not able to get over. He is not able to have new relationships because a short time after he has caught (the fishing metaphor is active through the play)/seduces a woman, he is disappointed because it doesn’t match the memories of his first love.
Whilst the play didn’t appeal, Margaret Thanos’ production was very atmospheric.Thanos and her creative team, set and costumes by Anna Tregloan, lighting by Damien Cooper, and Sam Cheng’s edgy soundscape, created a striking stage world for the actors to work in.
The performances were excellent, which one would expect from such a strong cast. They are all gifted dramatic actors. The main drawcard was the Internationally renowned Miranda Otto as The Woman, Ewen Leslie played the ‘sad case’, the Man, and the two women that he didn’t deserve, the wonderful Miranda Otto as The Woman and Andrea Demetriades as The Other Woman.
Jez Butterworth’s play THE RIVER was first produced on the 18th October 2012 by the Royal Court, London. This Sydney Theatre Company production , directed by Margaret Thanos, opened on the 7th April, 2026 and is currently playing the Drama Theatre at the Sydney Opera House.
