Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Paul Duckworth, Graham Geoffrey Hicks, Shaun Mason.

Sink or Swim, a play conceived from falling in love with a postcard and with the care and attention that productions deserve, has grown up to be one of the funniest, enjoyable and thought provoking plays likely to be seen this year.

The Studio upstairs at The Playhouse Theatre added the claustrophobic weight needed to give the three actors, the sublime Paul Duckworth, the charming Graham Geoffrey Hicks and the impressive Shaun Mason, the lack of room on stage to make Sink Or Swim a production that sees into men’s souls and how they deal with the most extreme part of survival.

When Able Seaman Jim Black, Swab Hand Bottle and Officer Gideon Oliver are thrust together as their ship is destroyed, they are lift clinging for their lives and their sanity on a lifeboat made for three. As the inevitability of their situation becomes apparent, great British reserve and fortitude are the order of the day and there is nothing better for restoring morale as the highest ranking officer reaches for the booze and the Able Seaman for the weevils, than by singing Rule Britannia loudly, playing I Spy and flogging the Swabhand.

Scripted by Robert Farquhar and Directed by Mark Smith, Spike Theatre once more get beneath the people they are writing about and see the absurdity that is all around in a very human situation. With no hope of rescue, the three seamen are reduced to becoming savage and ridiculous in their outlook.

This predicament is captured brilliantly by Paul Duckworth, Shaun Mason and Graham Geoffrey Hicks as they show the fear and the loathing of spending days on end adrift at sea with people that in all honesty you wouldn’t want to be around on land, let alone in a life boat with a piece of string, a single oar and half a packet of biscuits to keep you amused was performed with genuine love and comedic ease. All three actors are quite simply breathtaking.

Sink or Swim is an absolute cracker, 75 minutes of unabashed comedy brilliance.

Ian D. Hall