“Islander : A New Musical” reviewed by Julia W. Rath

** Confusing but highly entertaining, “Islander: A New Musical” suffers from the fact that only two actors play multiple roles. At the very least, more actors should have been cast, because it is very hard to keep track of who is playing which character at any given moment. While the production can boast of amazingly charming music, brilliant sound effects, and gorgeous vocals, none of this cannot make up for the fact that the performance should have been structured much differently. Plus, the audience ought to be familiar with some measure of Gaelic/Scottish dialect in order to follow the story more closely.

Written by Stewart Melton, “Islander” is designed to be a modern folktale. Cousins Eilidh (Lois Craig) and Jenny (Julia Murray) live on the small island of Kinnan, a made-up place off the coast of Scotland. The inhabitants are impoverished according to today’s standards: There are no doctors, no teachers, and no schools on the island. At age 15, Eilidh is the youngest person living there. Jenny’s mother known as Gran, is the oldest person on the island. There is talk among the Kinnanfolk about having everybody move to the mainland. Jenny, a marine biologist, is in favor of relocation, because she previously lived on the mainland and believes that the island’s inhabitants should modernize. But Eilidh believes that the island needs new blood, and people ought to be persuaded to move to Kinnan instead. Additionally, Eilidh has a mysterious talent: She can sing to whales, and they sing back to her. When Eilidh tells Jenny about this, she is doubtful that her cousin can do this, but it reminds her about a myth concerning the Finfolk: that they were the original settlers of Kinnan who were at one with the whales. Later Eilidh meets a woman named Arran, who has traveled a long distance to visit Kinnan and has been washed ashore. She too has heard about the myth of the whale people and wanted to see this island for herself. When the two women become friends, Arran tells Eilidh about feeling guilty about her travels: Her job as a whale keeper at Setasea was to take care of a mother whale and its male offspring named Arna, but the baby whale died shortly after she left home. Coincidentally, this is the same baby whale that Eilidh was in communication with before it died on Kinnan.

While the fanciful part of the mythology held my interest, other portions of the story seemed somewhat too convoluted or unnecessary, and the extraneous subplots threw me off. Above all, there are too many characters in this show. Other characters include two narrators, an amateur DJ, Eilidh’s Mum, Eilidh’s Gran, an unemployed woman named Breagha, who is 41 weeks pregnant, and 21 more Kinnanfolk. With no costume changes or changes in voice or cadence to provide any guidance for when an actor changes character, the audience’s task of keeping everybody straight becomes rather difficult in this two-actor performance. Even though both actors address the various characters by their proper names, we can’t always follow who is playing which role and when. Sometimes the lighting changes when an actor takes on a different role, but not always. Not only do we become confused about who is playing whom, but the muddle creates too much distance between the audience and the actors. This only gets worse over time and becomes frustrating. Therefore, I found it more and more challenging to empathize with everybody’s plight—or even to understand it—especially when some characters materialize for a short time or are simply talked about.

However, what is excellent about this presentation is how well Craig’s and Murray’s lovely singing voices blend together! The songs they sing are crisply and cleanly executed, and I was impressed with how well they sound-engineered their own performances, including playing with various rhythms, amplifying their lyrics, and looping musical phrases. I loved how expertly they generated all sorts of clever clicks, pops, and snaps using their microphones. The songs themselves (of which there are thirteen) are superbly written! The music and lyrics by Finn Anderson cannot be beat, and Sam Kusnetz’s sound design is superior, especially in how he handles the sounds of the two whales.

Costumes by Hahnji Jang are appropriate for a modern-day story that takes place along the Scottish coast. Directing by Amy Draper and Eve Nicol ensures that the two actors constantly move around on stage and take the best advantage of a super-minimal set. Scenic design by Emma Bailey is weird but imaginative, consisting of what looks like 3/4 of a huge bathtub, tilted along one side, with thick ledges that you can stand on. That is it! There are no props at all, that is, unless you consider the sound mixer on rollers to be a prop as well as the two microphones held by Craig and Murray. What distinguishes different scenes, time periods, and places, however, has to do with the lighting, which is creatively done by Simon Wilkinson. However, is all that strobe lighting near the end essential? It is very good as an indicator of a violent storm, but it seems too much. Another thing that defines various locales is the amount of mist being used and when. But is that heavy cloud necessary when the audience first walks into the theatre?

Unfortunately, because of the way that the production has been constructed, it is too difficult to keep focused on the story—and the joy of listening to all those beautiful songs and stirring music is largely eclipsed. This 90-minute show is much better if you let it wash over you, even better if you choose to combine the characters in your mind. But if you want to take a message away from the show or want make sense of it all: Good luck! You shouldn’t have to work so hard to figure it out.

“Islander” is playing at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier, Upstairs Theatre, at 800 East Grand Avenue, Chicago, through December 17, 2023.

Note that half the performances feature Craig and Murray. On alternate nights, performances feature Stephanie MacGaraidh as Jenny/Arran and Sylvie Stenson as Eilidh.

Tickets start at $65.

Performance Schedule:

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays – 7:30 p.m.
Saturdays – 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. (Note: The 2:30 performances are already sold out.)
Sundays – 2:00 and 6:00 p.m.

Open Captioning Performance: Wednesday, December 6, at 7:30 p.m.
ASL Duo-interpretation: Friday, December 8, at 7:30 p.m.
Audio Description: Sunday, December 10, at 2:00 p.m.

To purchase tickets, please contact the box office at 312-595-5600, or online at: https://www.chicagoshakes.com/plays_and_events/2324_islander?perfno=17410.

For general information about the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre or to learn about their other offerings, please visit: https://www.chicagoshakes.com/.

There is a dedicated parking garage at Navy Pier for the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, about halfway down the pier. Look for the overhead sign. Enter through the doors and turn right. Parking tickets must be validated at the theater to receive the discounted rate of $21.

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Islander”.