Nice Fish review, Harold Pinter Theatre

Ice-fishing in Minnesota, Ron and Erik bore holes, animate snowmen, box with tents, and manage police harassment while loading and lowering the brightly coloured fly hooks that will draw the bottom-feeders in the waters below. Whimsical Ron is excited by the universe, which he studies through a hole in his baloney sandwich. Erik is more prosaic: he recounts visiting the wrong address while tracking relatives in Sweden and deciding not to journey further because the wrong family was 'close enough' to the real thing. Nice Fish is a glorious mix of the magical and the mundane.

At one point, Ron - brilliant Mark Rylance, who co-wrote this gem with the American prose poet Louis Jenkins - sits listing the dietary requirements of individual family members. As the list moves from the medical to the superstitious and the superficial - gluten intolerant/vegetarian/ vegan/fish-but-no-meat/no-carbs/no-sugar/no-dairy/not-before-bed, the concerns of the first world appear embarrassingly shallow. Nice Fish is full of scenes that make you laugh, and then make you think.

The last minutes of Nice Fish are a masterclass in acting. Rylance and Jim Lichtscheidl as Eric, transform into an elderly couple. As they feebly traverse the ice discussing their lives, the piece pulls together in a way we have not seen coming. Having started as a playful exercise in the everyday - a look at two lives being played out in the middle of nowhere on a continent far away, Nice Fish morphs into a worldview encompassing us all. How have we chosen to grow as human beings? Are we explorers testing the ice, or bottom-feeders so busy mulching the minutiae we don't see the hooks?


In conclusion: Nice Fish is a terrific ninety minutes with Rylance at his joyful best. There are a couple of characters midway through who slow things down for no obvious reason, but you'll leave wanting more. Directed by Mrs Rylance, Claire van Kampen, it's a beautiful production that won its wings in New York. Grab a ticket if you can.


Harold Pinter Theatre, Panton Street, London SW1Y 4DN     Run ends 11 February