Fiji Land **

Southwark Playhouse, London

EXCERPT: “As a short, I believe the piece would show real promise: the dialogue is good, the premise intriguing, and the characterisation quite diverse. As a full-length play, because it telegraphs where it’s going from early on and then never really progresses from that point, as it goes on it flounders and ultimately bores.”

Fiji Land is a new play by Nick Gill. Three military men have been hired to feed pot-plants (symbolising war detainees). They battle with meaty issues: the need to unquestioningly and unflinchingly follow orders and the isolation of their situation (both geographically and mentally, as none of them feel they can trust one another).

Showing on Southwark Playhouse’s lovely stage, with a strong cast (Jake Ferretti, Stephen Bisland and Matthew Trevannion), and a well designed set by Ruth Hall, producer Ashleigh Wheeler has done well to get so many talented people on board for what I feel is (in essence) a slightly dodgy script. As a short, I believe the piece would show real promise: the dialogue is good, the premise intriguing, and the characterisation quite diverse. As a full-length play, because it telegraphs where it’s going from early on and then never really progresses from that point, as it goes on it flounders and ultimately bores. Main charges to be laid at its door are predominantly those for Gill to work on, though director Alice Malin could have helped make them less apparent: the play has a poor dramatic structure; there needs to be more variety in pace and tone; and I would have liked more attention paid to character development and journey. I also found the play’s conclusion confusing and jarring; I still don’t quite get the point Gill was trying to get across with such a gory display of violence and why the military keepers were affected in the way they were.

For novelty factor, however, this play gets high marks: see this and you’ll get the chance to see a plant being waterboarded and masturbated on/with, as well as a bizarre snow igloo that appears in the middle of the stage (so defying the idea that two of the men’s heating issues are delusional ones?).