To Save The Sea, Sleeping Warrior Theatre Company Review

To Save the Sea Production Photography. Photo by Mihaela Bodlovic

Written by Kathryn for Theatre and Tonic

Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review. All opinions are our own

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At the end of April 1995, Greenpeace activists took up residence on the Brent Spar oil storage tank, in the middle of the North Sea. Their goal was to prevent Shell, the platform’s owners, from dumping the installation into the sea. At the time, the Greenpeace campaign sparked a global media storm along with the boycotting of Shell petrol stations all across Europe.

The new Scottish musical To Save The Sea, which was written by Isla Cowan and Andy McGregor, is inspired by the real-life events of the Brent Spar occupation. The story focuses on five people occupying the platform for those three weeks in May 1995, telling us their stories and personal reasons for protesting. It highlights how ordinary people can come together and make a real change. 

The show is a 90-minute one act production and the pace is fast as we move seamlessly from scenes on the Brent Spar to scenes back on land as political and industry leaders try to handle the negative publicity and deal with the Greenpeace occupiers.

There’s plenty of humour weaved amongst the serious messaging, along with heart-wrenching moments and passionate performances.The whole cast were outstanding, pulling audiences into their individual stories throughout the production. I particularly enjoyed the performance of Kara Swinney as protestor Rachel - her ballad was beautiful and I felt audiences would really connect with her story of just wanting to do something for yourself, to achieve your own dreams and help make a difference. 

Musically McGregor has brought together many different musical and theatrical styles to create something quite epic considering the overall small scale of the production. There’s a great mix of soaring ballads and comedic numbers - “Drill Baby Drill” was a personal favourite.

Overall I enjoyed the production but did find myself losing a bit of spirit somewhere in the middle. There was a small part where it began to feel a bit repetitive, moving scenes from the platform to the Shell offices and then back,  and I really just longed for some dialogue and maybe a bit more normal interaction between the activists on the platform. I sometimes felt like although we as an audience knew each character individually, we didn’t really see them get to know each other and see their relationships as a group working and living together. The story moves along at a fast pace, understandably as the production team are cramming a couple of months worth of seriously epic drama into just 90 minutes. Both the start and end of the production are completely captivating, but something in the middle was just missing a little for me. 

At its heart, To Save The Sea is a celebration of the human spirit, people power and having hope when all seems lost. It speaks to audiences about the importance of the environment and standing up for what you believe in without being preachy. Instead, it uses those basic connections we all make as humans to get its important message through, with a bit of adventure and silliness thrown in.

Catch To Save the Sea at Glasgow’s Tron Theatre until 28 September, and then on tour throughout October and November. More information and tickets here.

★ ★ ★ ★