To The Ocean – The Greenhouse, London

London gets its own pop-up, zero waste theatre in The Greenhouse, whose season begins with To the Ocean, a modern version of a classic myth.

The Greenhouse

It was the concept of the theatre that first drew me in. The Greenhouse is the UK’s first zero waste performance space. This means in practice that it is made entirely from recycled and found materials, and uses sustainable electricity. With a 2019 Edinburgh season under its belt as well as a 2021 season in London, the Greenhouse has now returned to an earlier site plus a couple of new ones.

I caught it at the London site it has previously frequented: Canary Wharf. The Greenhouse is part-way through a one month residency in Jubilee Park, right outside (or on top of) Canary Wharf Jubilee Line station. To the Ocean is actually part of an ambitious programme, with shows at 5, 7 and 9 PM on week nights and an extra 2 PM slot on weekends. It’s a perfect spot for a casual visit on a fine evening, then, with a stop before or after at the Greenhouse’s new zero-waste bar.

As you might expect for such an environmentally-conscious venue, To the Ocean is a show with a message. Written, directed and composed by Oli Wright (with additional material provided by the cast through a devising process), it is a retelling of an old myth, that of the selkie. Selkies are creatures in Celtic and Norse mythology. They shapeshift between human and seal form by putting on or removing a seal skin. The classic tale is the Selkie Bride, a woman convinced to live a life on land until she cannot stay away from the sea any longer. To the Ocean asks: what happens when the Selkie Bride’s child grows up?

To The Ocean

To the Ocean is a story simply told. It features four actor-musicians, who each take a role and share the narration. The plot advances mostly through dialogue, with a few songs interspersed which recall folk songs and even a sea shanty. We first learn the circumstances of Grace’s (Laura Kent) birth, to a Selkie mother Shonagh (Alice Robinson) and human father Cameron (Stuart Curlett). Sixteen years on and keen to learn where she came from, Grace embarks on an adventure with Tom (Fintan Quinn). I won’t give away all the details, but suffice it to say the story follows the arc of many a good myth. With some additional messages about living in harmony with the natural world.

To the Ocean is entertaining if not ground-breaking. There are some touching moments as well as moments of levity. Laura Kent and Fintan Quinn are particularly good as young Grace and Tom: she all teenage uncertainty and he charmingly positive. The amount of plot fit into a running time of 75 minutes means the conclusion feels a little rushed, although maybe in a myth retelling this isn’t so bad as the story feels comfortingly familiar anyway. It could do with bolder direction, perhaps, to make more of a moment of it. The design by Charlotte Murray I felt also played things a little safe: there are a few flourishes but I wanted it to go further, somehow.

Final Thoughts

This brings me to a point which coloured my experience of the Greenhouse and To the Ocean: it felt somehow timid within its environs. Loomed over by skyscrapers and surrounded by fake grass, this project in sustainability and creativity needs to boldly proclaim itself as an antidote. Instead, I found the space rather closed off when I arrived: ticket holders were uncertain when and how to enter, and few bystanders seemed drawn in. Once inside the space, it didn’t help that quieter moments competed against the noise of the exhaust fans from the underground shopping centre. It’s exactly why the Greenhouse is needed, so I would love to see the theatre make more of its presence in order to compete.

Nonetheless the project itself is an ambitious one, and deserves support. If you are in Canary Wharf of an evening (or a weekend afternoon), it’s worth checking here to see what’s coming up. Or you might consider the Greenhouse’s run later in the summer at Battersea: I could be tempted back to see how it works in a different location. It feels to me like the Greenhouse is a concept still in development: we can only hope to see more sustainable, ecologically-minded performance spaces and companies follow its lead as this pioneer continues to develop.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3/5

To the Ocean on throughout the Greenhouse’s Canary Wharf run: to 15 July