THE FISHERMEN (New Perspectives/Radio 3)***

 

By Cal 

Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000sqxq 

Available until: 4^th May 2021

The radio play The Fishermen is based on the play of that name by Gbolahan Obisesan which is based on the book of that name by Chigozie Obioma. The play was staged by New Perspectives Theatre Company and then had a run in London at the Trafalgar Studios. Recently, the cast was reunited and a new production was produced for Radio 3. I understand some changes were made for the radio audience, but these were minimal and I think they were made more to clarify the story rather than to alter it.

While people who were familiar with the book absolutely loved the play, the reviews suggest that many people who weren’t familiar with the book found the play a little bit confusing. Sadly, that is easy to believe as I found the radio play quite difficult to follow too, but the reviewers who felt the confusion doesn’t really matter have a point too. There is plenty to enjoy in this radio play, even if it is a bit of a struggle to get the full picture.

As I haven’t read the book, I don’t know anything about the narrative structure, but the narrative structure of the play is extremely interesting. It’s the story of two brothers (though some synopses say there are four of them) fishing. They haven’t seen one another for a while because of family difficulties and the problems that led to their estrangement are discussed. We hear the voices of the other characters, but most of these voices are not provided by other actors – they are provided by the brothers themselves, imitating the voices of the people in their lives, as they might naturally do in the course of their conversation.

There are however a few exceptions to this rule, with a third actor sometimes joining in. The reasons why this is necessary are unclear, but I wonder if it’s because both brothers are present in the scenes with the extra actor’s characters and the brothers have enough to do already? It’s difficult to be sure, but it’s a possibility.

Jack McNamara, who directed the stage play, returns to direct the radio play. It’s possible that he could have done more to clarify what was going on, but as a lot of it was unclear even in the stage production, perhaps there was only a limited amount he could do without a drastic rewriting of the text. What he has done is to ensure the qualities of the play which were admired in the stage play are also brought out strongly here. Even with no visuals, this play has a brilliant atmosphere. There’s a lot of tension and this is so powerful, it creates a real sense of uneasiness and trepidation. Perhaps it is even a bit scarier on the radio, with all these voices coming out of nowhere! But there are also moments of playfulness and humour which almost makes you wish you were there fishing with the brothers too.

The acting really is very good, but one problem which I did experience was that the actors’ Nigerian accents were incredibly strong and it was difficult to understand some of what they said. This is a comment I have some reservations about making, even though some of the people who saw the stage version said the same thing. Accents are beautiful and fascinating and a part of these characters’ identities and I actually think it would be wrong for them to be toned down. The solution to this problem lies elsewhere.

Maybe it is time for Radio 3 to consider providing a transcript of their plays – not just for people who can’t quite catch the rhythm of the voices but for people whose hearing impairments make radio productions completely inaccessible. When radio was first invented, of course such a thing was impossible, but our technology has advanced considerably and as a society, we are moving towards greater inclusion and one group of people who are often either excluded from many forms of entertainment or find the effort too severe for them to attempt it often, if at all, are people with disabilities. It has been really positive to see the number of online productions during the pandemic which have provided subtitles and sign language interpretation for those with hearing impairments – I also give credit to the companies who have admitted that providing this is not financially feasible at the moment but clearly recognise and appreciate the need for it - and it would be really good to see something similar offered by BBC Radio.

Getting back to the play, the acting is excellent. David Alade and Valentine Olukoga give powerful performances as brothers Ben and Obembe. They’re quite disturbing characters in some ways, but after hearing what they’ve gone through, is there any wonder? Their ability to play other characters so brilliantly lifts this performance still further. Some of David’s attempts to imitate his Mother’s voice are amusing, but once he’s got the voice right (in his brother’s opinion), his performance becomes very moving. Valentine plays other roles including the boys’ demanding Father, while Michael Ajao voices the other characters. It can be confusing following the story and keeping up with all the characters – though not because the characters sound too similar, there are just a lot of them – but listening to the scenes, even without being completely sure of the context, is a mesmerising experience.

This radio play is completely free to listen to and it really has whetted my appetite for reading the play and hopefully seeing it staged one day too.