Park Theatre have teamed up once again with the team that gave us ‘When Darkness Falls’ in 2021. This play delves into the mystery of the disappearance of three ‘wickies’ (lighthouse-keepers), who were staffing a lighthouse on one of the remote islands in the Outer Hebrides called Eilean Mor in December 1900. Their task was to keep the light always working to aid ships in the hostile seas and severe weather. Eilean Mor was uninhabited apart from the lighthouse keepers. As the play explains, this is the bleakest place on earth to do your wickie shift, and the weather was particularly bad when the men went missing.
Their disappearance was discovered after a particularly bad storm hit Eilean Mor, and the supply vessel managed to reach the island after being delayed by the storm. The fourth member of the team searched the island but could find no trace of his team members. And herein lies the tale…
The lighthouse kitchen is the hub of the play’s set which helps to set the scene of how the lighthouse keepers spent their time. Cooking, attending to the main light, and ensuring they were prepared for the frequent storms that hit the island. James Ducat (Ewan Stewart) was lead keeper, and on this shift, he was accompanied by Donald MacArthur (Graeme Dalling) another experienced keeper and Thomas Marshall (Jamie Quinn), who was new to lighthouse keeping. Sea shanties sang regularly by the wickies, to keep up their spirits in those inhospitable surroundings, creating a feeling of camaraderie. The tension is built with the telling of spooky tales by MacArthur to un-nerve rookie lighthouse-keeper Marshall. MacArthur does not feel comfortable working with a rookie lighthouse-keeper in such a challenging place as Eilean Mor. These tales create a feeling of the supernatural, and the subdued lighting and sound effects encourage the thought that something sinister may have befallen these three wickies.
Stimulating the viewer’s imagination is key to the success of such a play, and the writing (Paul Morrissey), direction (Shilpa T-Hyland) and the cast, certainly dealt with this amiably. The clever use of lighting, and sound designed by Nik Paget-Tomlinson, built up the suspense although the ending felt a little abrupt after the time spent creating the suspense.
There is no doubt that such a tale is always going to be of interest, and Park Theatre have created a show that sparks the imagination.
To see Wickies: The Vanishing Men of Eilean Mor, go to https://parktheatre.co.uk/whats-on/wickies-the-vanishing-men-of-eilean-mor playing until the 31st December 2022.
Reviewer: Caroline Worswick
Reviewed: 8th December 2022
North West End UK Rating: ★★★★