The River (play)

The River is a play written by Jez Butterworth. It premiered in 2012 at the Royal Court Theatre in London, directed by Ian Rickson. It received its North American premiere at the Circle in the Square Theatre on Broadway in 2014, also directed by Rickson.

Synopsis

The play is a psychological drama focusing on a man and two different women who appear to be linked by the man's recurring dream of a remote cabin in the woods by a river. The man, a fly fisherman, takes each woman to the isolated cabin during the full moon, leading to explorations of memory, loss, identity, and the enduring power of nature. The play is characterized by its enigmatic narrative and ambiguous relationships, leaving the audience to piece together the reality of the situation.

Characters

The play features three characters, identified as:

• The Man: An experienced fly fisherman with a deep connection to the river and the natural world.
• The Woman (A): A visitor to the cabin.
• The Woman (B): Another visitor to the cabin.

The script does not explicitly name these characters, adding to the play's sense of mystery and potentially implying that the women are manifestations of a single, archetypal figure.

Themes

Key themes explored in The River include:

• Memory and Identity: The play delves into the unreliability of memory and how it shapes our sense of self. The fragmented and recurring nature of the man's memories blurs the lines between reality and imagination.
• Nature and the Primitive: The remote setting and the man's connection to fly fishing emphasize the primal instincts and the powerful forces of nature.
• Love and Loss: The relationships between the man and the women are marked by both intimacy and a sense of profound loss. The play explores the complexities of love, desire, and the enduring impact of past experiences.
• The Passage of Time: Time is presented as fluid and cyclical, with recurring patterns and echoes suggesting a continuous loop of events.

Critical Reception

The River has received mixed but often intensely engaged critical reception. Some critics praised Butterworth's evocative language, the atmospheric staging, and the play's exploration of complex themes. Others found the narrative too ambiguous and the characters underdeveloped. The play's reliance on suggestion and implication rather than explicit exposition has been a point of contention among reviewers.