Jez Butterworth's 80 minute play is an enigmatic story of a man, some women and the cabin where he brings them to fish for sea trout during a brief season when they're spawning back up the river near his cabin. Over the course of the evening, we see romantic banter, a fish is scaled, gutted and cooked, and the connection between coaxing a fish and coaxing a partner are explored. Butterworth's writing and Margaret Thanos's direction scrape against something disconcerting about parnership but ultimately there's not quite enough here to feel like a full theatrical meal - it's a little too keen on remaining mysterious.
Miranda Otto is absolutely the marketing hook of the show so it's odd that the play itself has her in a role that doesn't require her on stage full time. This is not the first time that STC has marketed a show on a star that isn't quite as engaged as marketing suggests nor is it the is it the first time that the play has been a bit of a disappointment. It feels like there's not quite enough meat for her or for the audience to chew on here - there's some very nice design here (Anna Tregoan's set and Damien Cooper's lighting do a lot to bring in the wide stage of the drama theatre for a play that is largely duologues), and the other members of the cast (Ewan Leslie as the Man and Andrea Demetriades as the Oher Woman) are certainly solid, but in the end it's a lot of high talent on a script that doesn't feel like it's saying particularly much - yes, it gratuitously quotes Ted Hughes for a bit of literary cred, but that's not enough for this to feel quite as meaty as it should.
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