I had the pleasure to watch Zinnie Harris’s revival of ‘Further of the Furthest Thing’ at the Young Vic Theatre, London. I went to the evening performance on the 18th April, and also both performances on the 19th April.
Act One is set on the island of Tristan de Cunha, which is a small island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
The first act opens with Bill going for a swim in a lake, but the lake starts to rumble. So, Bill gets out of the lake and runs home to warn his wife Mill. While Bill is out swimming in the lake; back home Mill welcomes home her nephew Francis whose been working away from the island for six months in Cape Town. But, Francis isn’t alone; as he as brought a guest with him from Cape Town, and that is Mr Hansen who is a factory owner who specialises in making jars. Mr Hansen wants to build a factory on the island; and he wants Francis to help him. After Francis has finished introducing Mr Hansen to his aunt and uncle he goes to see Rebecca on the beach. Rebecca reveals to Francis that she is pregnant, and Francis tells Rebecca how badly he has been treated while he has been away. During the night Bill can’t sleep so he starts making his Will by dividing up their crop of potatoes.
The following morning Mill and Mr Hansen meet up on the beach where Rebecca is sitting. Mill tells Rebecca to move and when she refuses, Mill tells her to go and start smiling at the sailors, which Rebecca denies. Rebecca then moves from the beach. Mill then asks Mr Hansen to describe the factory that he and Francis plan to build on the island. Bill and Francis go to the beach to tell Mr Hansen that the villagers have voted to have the factory on the island, but Francis doesn’t want to build a factory on the island, due to having hearing rumbling noises coming from the lake. Bill goes to see Rebecca and tells her that Francis and Mill plan to leave the island and confesses to her that it may cause the other islanders leaving to. Rebecca reveals to Bill that she doesn’t want to have the baby, and she asks Bill to kill the baby once it arrives.
Mill is getting Francis ready for his wedding to Rebecca. But there’s also a crowd that has gathered outside, and Francis is confused on why there’s a crowd outside. The crowd is forming because the volcano has started to erupt. Francis goes to find Rebecca, and he returns with the news that the baby is coming, but she doesn’t want to see anyone. The only person Rebecca wants to see is Bill. Bill helps Rebecca to deliver the baby while the volcano is erupting. Francis starts to beat down Rebecca’s door screaming for her, and Mill comes after him to lead him away. Once Bill has delivered and killed the baby; Rebecca reveals that she had been assaulted by a group of sailors, and Bill also realises that the baby has been born unbaptised. So, Bill baptises the baby. Mill and Mr Hansen rush round to Rebecca’s house, as they are the only people left on the island due to the island being evacuated as the volcano. Bill tells Mr Hansen and Mill that he killed the baby, and Mill asks Mr Hansen not to say anything to anyone and that the baby was born dead.
Mill and Bill are sitting outside of their home in the garden, and reflecting that they are now both British and what it means to be British. Mill has come up with an idea to raise money to send six people back to the island to see it one last time.
Rebecca goes to see Francis in Mr Hansen’s office, and she tells Francis that she misses him. But, Francis doesn’t want to know.
Mill has another meeting with Mr Hansen to tell him of her plan to lead a group of six people to go and see the island with a camera. If Mill postpones the trip he tells Mill that they will be getting improved housing if they stay in England, and start to consider themselves British.
Rebecca goes and talks to Mill about a reporter who she is being harassed and insulted by. Francis arrives and Mill tells him that she has almost raised the money. Mill asks Francis if he would like to go back to the island for her and Bill. Rebecca also confides in Mill that the reporters wanted to know about something dark that happened on the island long ago, and it was before Bill converted the island to Christianity.
Mr Hansen goes to see Bill in the boiler room, and he confesses to Bill that the island really hasn’t been destroyed and that it was a lie to cover up from the British Government, as they want to use the island to test nuclear weapons.
Mill goes to see Mr Hansen and asks him to write a letter to the press to explain the events before the island turned to Christianity. Mr Hansen asks her not to send her story to the press. They are then interrupted by Francis who explains that Bill has locked himself in the boiler room.
Mill and Francis are getting ready to attend Bill’s funeral. Mr Hansen is waiting outside to talk to Mill and he apologises for lying to her about the island. Mill tells Mr Hansen that the islanders are now split, as some want to return back to the island. Mr Hansen envies Mill’s love for the island and the power that the island has to draw people back to it. He tells Mill that supplies will always be sent to the island as long as he is alive.
‘Further than the Furthest Thing’ is a very thought provoking play based on true events that took place on Tristan de Cunha.
The first act is set on the island, while the second act is set in England, and because of the contrast between the two acts it caused some audience members to leave; which was a shame as all of the cast, crew and everyone whose working in the theatre wants you to enjoy the whole experience.
The cast worked beautifully together, and the wonderful Jenna Russell had me in tears at the start of the second act. I also got to see Gerald deliver Mr Hansen’s magic trick from a few different angles, which was fun to see.
I really enjoyed my first visit to the Young Vic Theatre, London. All of the staff where so welcoming and nothing was too much trouble, as I had an issue with my theatre tickets.
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