Be prepared for a real life, rocking, rolling adventure on board an Australian prawn trawler, sailing across the Coral sea, facing the danger of high swells, storms and sharks.
It’s reminiscent of an advertisement for crew to join an expedition to the Antarctic in 1914. “Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in event of success.” Ernest Shackleton, 4 Burlington St.
Are you ready to come on board?
Twenty five years ago, Eoin, a young Irish lad is distraught at sporting failure, feeling trapped and isolated, but has a dream of escaping to Peru and climbing Machu Picchu. After travelling to Australia, he needs to raise funds for the onward journey and is unwittingly convinced to work on a fishing trawler. While excited at the opportunity, ‘my parents went ballistic’ as he will be out of contact for six weeks with no landfall.
Eoin is a natural storyteller as he relates this true experience, reliving his youthful, carefree exuberance in 1999 when he sets off to Thursday Island and Torres Strait (between Australia and Papua New Guinea), to board the prawn trawler. The stage setting depicts the cramped, claustrophobic space of the boat – beer-stocked fridge, table & bench seats, camp bed, fishing tackle, orange buckets, rope.
He describes his crew mates, Stu the skipper, Tom, first mate, Pete, a teenager, who are all hard drinking, weed smoking Aussie blokes who don’t suffer fools lightly. As the outsider, he is mercilessly teased like the new boy in school, and cruelly referred to anonymously as ‘Irish’.
Only when out at sea is he told that he is the cook as well as the hard labour of manhandling the nets and sorting the sharp, spiky prawns. Standing at the table, he re-enacts long hours spent grading kilos of shellfish, the tedious backbreaking work. But then, time to chill, knock back a few beers, smoke joints and collapse into bed, totally exhausted.
But this play is subtitled, ‘When adventure becomes survival.’ His narrative swiftly turns from a dreamlike voyage to a psychological nightmare facing gale force wind, waves, horrific injury, bullying, a serious threat of violence – ‘you fxxxxxx leprechaun’ - and virtual imprisonment.
‘Trawled’ is an intense, riveting story and akin to a radio drama, it would benefit so much with the addition of sound effects, lashing waves, creaking timbers and perhaps atmospheric music. Nothing more haunting than the opening, repeated chords in the movie, ‘Jaws’ to picture the terrifying sight of a shark darting through water.
With a realistic sense of excruciating pain and emotional despair, Eoin describes the physical and mental trauma he had to attempt, against the odds, to survive, clearly envisaging his tomb stone, ‘Eoin Ryan, lost at sea’. This is indeed a brave, bold solo performance expressed with such honesty, lightened with moments of delightful, self-deprecating Irish humour.
N.B 'Trawled' written and performed by Eoin Ryan, is on the shortlist of selected plays for the presitigious Popcorn /BBC Drama Writers Award.
Showtimes:
9 – 24 August @ 16.05
Ticket prices: £12 (£10)
Age guidance: 16+
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/trawled-when-adventure-becomes-survival