'Dogstar' review — this unpredictable voyage is both witty and startlingly surreal

Read our review of Daisy Hall's play Dogstar, now in performances at Hampstead Theatre to 5 December.

Summary

• Daisy Hall's play Dogstar premieres at Hampstead Theatre
• This atmospheric dark comedy is set aboard a stranded 19th-century whaling ship
• The assured cast includes Justin Edwards as a veteran whaler
• Lucy Morrison's production ably balances offbeat jokes with a moody atmosphere

Emerging writer Daisy Hall's new dark comedy at Hampstead Theatre focuses on the last few remaining crew members on the Dogstar, a 19th-century whaling ship stuck in the ice near the Arctic Pole. Both witty and heart-rending, this Conrad-esque tale delivers laugh-out-loud humour and a startlingly surreal twist.

With overfishing and the stock of whales in steep decline, the captain of the Dogstar sails the ship too far north in search of quarry and now it’s trapped. Everybody on board has scurvy and many of the crew have perished. Those left wait for the ice to melt so they can get home. That's when something strange happens. Or does it?

Following the success of Hall's debut stage play, Bellringers, a finalist for the Women's Prize for Playwriting in 2023 and also performed in the theatre's intimate downstairs studio, this follow-up cleverly examines several interesting themes. They include conflict between colleagues (they're not really friends, but feel a deep sense of loyalty to one another), trying to cope under immense stress, and how one bad action could determine the whalers' fates.

Recent RADA graduate Abdul Jalloh is excellent as Sam, a young whaler who can be a bit annoying as he insists on sticking to the rules. But now he's on his first trip and it's all going terribly wrong. Jalloh captures earnest Sam's desperate desire to please the captain and be promoted to the role of harpooner.

Justin Edwards gives an assured performance as Babben, a seasoned whaler who's close to hanging up his oilskins and retiring so he can spend more time with his wife Molly and his sons. Edwards is totally believable as the veteran looking after a dying shipmate, while at the same time calming a crew close to mutiny and blaming one another for their misfortune.

Gorey, played by Adam Rojko Vega, completes the trio as a whaler who's just happened to end up on the ship. He's furious with the captain for not turning back and says things the others dare not express, like why did the captain push them too far and then isolate himself.

Lucy Morrison ably directs this tragicomedy which contains offbeat jokes, such as what can you get away with and still get into Heaven – stealing pears is all right if they're going to waste, apparently. Hannah Schmidt's simple design of oak flooring and beams is effective, and lighting designer Holly Ellis contributes to a mysterious mood with an undercurrent of doom, juxtaposed with a burst of dazzling brightness later in the play. Sound design by Anna Short, with an ominously creaking hull and cracking of ice, is hugely atmospheric.

Although Dogstar takes place in the 1860s, it feels highly relevant today. Characters worrying about the demise of the whaling industry could well be today's oil workers anxious about green energy initiatives usurping their jobs. Hall's fantastical conclusion brings some hope, although, deliciously, this unpredictable voyage keeps us guessing right until the end.

Dogstar is at Hampstead Theatre to 5 December. Book Dogstar tickets on LondonTheare.co.uk

Photo credit: Dogstar (Photos by Pamela Raith Photography)