Paul McGann leads cast into rehearsal for The River

I write this at the end of the first day of rehearsal for our next production, the first major London revival of Jez Butterworth’s The River, which opens in Greenwich on 1 October.

I’ve written about first days before. There is always a sense of excitement as the cast meet for the first time in the rehearsal room, the set design and thoughts for costumes, lighting and sound are shared, logistical plans are made and then the script is read aloud by the cast.

This reading is important for everyone. We have all sat at home or in the office and read the play, some of us many times over, but it is impossible to recreate the rhythms and nuances of a full cast when you read it yourself – and new ideas, new emphases and new meanings emerge with a full set of individual voices.

For us, those voices come from Paul McGann (who most people will likely know from Withnail & I, Luther or Doctor Who), Amanda Ryan (from Shameless) and Kerri McLean (from Poldark).

Together they are telling the story of a moonless night in August when the sea trout are ready to run, a night on which a man brings his new girlfriend to the remote family cabin where he has come for the fly-fishing since he was a boy.

There are particular challenges in this play, which slips through time when you least expect it and hints at a timeless story of loss and hope. On its world premiere at the Royal Court Theatre in 2012, the Guardian described the play as “strange, eerie and tense”. It opens with a scene between two unnamed characters – The Man and The Woman – in an old wood cabin in the woods. This is where he comes to pursue his passion for fishing, and he has brought his girlfriend to share the experience, but her reaction isn’t quite what he hopes. So far so good, but this play is not that simple, and we are set to see moments unfold from this and previous encounters, in a jigsaw for the audience to reconstruct.

In this play the cabin is crucial to the tale. All of the action unfolds in the claustrophobic space, surrounded by water and trees, and our designer Emily Bestow (Offie award-winner for Snow White last year) has created an astonishing set, building the log cabin on the theatre stage, surrounded by rippling reflections of the trees overhanging the river. Together with Offie winning lighting designer Henry Slater and 7-time Offie nominated sound designer Justin Starr, the overall design promises a truly atmospheric production.

Concluding his Guardian review of the original production, Michael Billington wrote “[The River] confirms that Butterworth possesses a singular talent. I only wish that more people could get in to see it.” I am delighted that we have been able to make that possible, bringing the show back to London for the first time since its premiere.

Tickets are available now at www.greenwichtheatre.org.uk

Photo credit Sonny McGann