Swept Away – 16 November 2024

Swept Away was the new musical I hungered for. Beautifully balanced chords, music that was complex and filled with emotion, relationships that were simple and heart achingly beautiful in their simplicity, and gorgeous design elements swept me out of my own world and into this engaging story about the haunting nature of carrying people within us and the risks associated with losing our way. The folk rock score (The Avett Brothers) and innovative choreography (David Neumann) humanized the sailors in a somewhat comical first half so that the audience had sympathy when the tide turned and the characters resorted to cannibalism in a moment of great calamity. Somehow, knowing what was in the characters’ hearts made the sacrifices less savage when survival was the meaning behind the monstrosity. Despite the fact that the protagonist (John Gallagher, Jr.) struggled to forgive himself, the audience in a sense took on the form of a merciful God because we, as an outside entity beyond his plain of existence that heard and bore witness to his tale, did not find him difficult to forgive.

At the voyage’s outset, a farmer (Stark Sands) follows his younger brother (Adrian Blake Enscoe) onto a whaling ship that is about to cast off. While the older brother argues with the younger brother about the importance of maintaining the family ties to the land, the ship leaves port and both become members of the crew— the younger excited, the elder reluctant. This begins the dichotomy that is upheld through much of the journey between religious and spiritual. The development of this theme mirrors the inner journey of the protagonist from lawless and jocular to haunted by his demonic deviance from societal convention. Structurally, the story is told in retrospect with the protagonist as the narrator, so it is especially interesting that the story introduces the concept of the devil in the earlier contemplation stages of cannibalism as necessary but complicated. This highlights the effect that the brothers’ piety had on him, and that affection manifested most clearly when he was on the lifeboat contemplating his life in totality as time mostly spent alone, in pain, and in shame. His phase of contemplation and deliberation is one is the meatier parts of his journey, showing the uniqueness of the strength of his spiritual connection to the flesh he needed to sustain him. In a sense, it is the carnal act that brings him closer to the brothers, closer to the heavens, and closer to the actual act of dying that is depicted in the opening moments. In a sense though, it is his rescue that kills him because it takes him further away from being able to use his understanding of his actions’ necessity as a way to cope. Without the hunger clawing within him, he is ashamed and lonely.

Yet, to see this story as dark and dismal would be to miss the beauty in telling it. This production has a lot of literal beauty— particularly in the lighting design (Kevin Adams), orchestrations (Brian Usifer/Chris Miller), vocal performances, and scenic artistry (Rachel Hauk). Told without projections/video, this show stands apart from much of what’s on Broadway at the moment. Right now, a number of new shows are focusing on technology and what the future might be like. Swept Away takes us back to the core of our humanity— to moments when there are only two entities to wrestle with: ourselves and a higher power. It depicts the excitement, adventure, and danger of a pre phones world. These characters are simple archetypes who are deeply connected to their loved ones and alive in a way that we are not. They figure out their own paths and find their own ways home to inner peace. The dancing is joyous— the revelry magnified by the solidarity and surety of in person connection. The literal beauty in the show washes over us and is captivating from the beginning, as well as in truly magnificent sequences during the storm. Lighting guides moments which clearly draw the delineation between reality and the haunted voices in the protagonist’s head with lighting alone. Supported by strong sound design (John Shivers) choices, the Gestalt of Swept Away is a tidal wave juxtaposing the building blocks of humanity: love, connection, spirituality, resilience, and the importance of occasionally turning your face to the wind to laugh in the face of the world.

I attended this performance on a press pass from DKC/O&M.