The Jolly Fisherman - Underbelly Buttercup - Review

The local pub can often be seen as the community hub, a home away from home and a second family, and for Alan it’s where he grew up. Surrounded by his father’s nicknamed friends, as a young teenager he becomes the guard of their favourite chairs, the runner to the bar and back and their companion in the Jolly Fisherman pub.

But times are changing for young Alan (Alex Hill) who delights in having the same forehead as his same named father and adores Lil the barmaid who looks out for him after the death of his mum. He lives in a mostly white community, and upon befriending Amir (Jonny Khan) who moves in down the street, he introduces him to the pub. They play darts, Amir can use the back room to pray, and it becomes the new norm. But when the pub is shut down to be turned into a mosque, both Alan and Amir that racism, taught prejudice and discrimination are rife.

The Jolly Fisherman, playing in Underbelly’s Buttercup venue, is a powerful two hander that explores friendship, community and prejudice through the eyes of two young men over the course of several years. With just a few bar stools and a dart board, we are transported to the Jolly Fisherman pub where Alan and Amir spend a great deal of their time. Through their friendship, Amir feels able let his guard down whilst talking openly about his religion, even introducing Alan to prayer, but through the comments of Alan’s dad’s friends (all portrayed by Hill) we see racism creeping in, the taught prejudice that can come from that generation when as the pub is closed down we see accusations of stealing the building for their own use thrown at Amir and his community, and blame thrown at Alan for introducing him to the pub in the first place.

Hill is able to convey the emotions and thoughts of a growing young man with ease, from the excitement of being that 13 year old in the pub with the grown ups to a thoughtful friend trying to learn and respect Amir’s religion to a young man unsure who to believe, influenced by the thoughts of those around him. It feels relevant to today’s world, where we see young man have thoughts and opinions so easily pushed upon them and it is powerful to see it played out in such a way. Khan’s Amir, with his cheeky smile, illustrates a young man’s excitement at being welcomed into a community by a new friend and being understood. He is able to bring that switch to life, the little comments that start to weave their way in, that feeling of not being as accepted as he thought he was and how one person can be singled out to blame when others don’t agree with an entire community.

Whilst The Jolly Fisherman tackles some heavy and serious topics, all with a gentle hand, it also has some very funny moments which centre around Alan and Amir simply being best friends. They laugh and joke over games of darts, tease each other about girls and form a bond that feels entirely believable which in turn makes it more hard hitting to see the beliefs and arguments of others worm their way into their friendship. I don’t want to give too much away but with the story spanning several years, we really do see ups and downs that hit home.

After selling out their entire run at the fringe, I seriously doubt that this will be the last that we see of Alan, Amir and The Jolly Fisherman. I suspect there is a number of venues, both in London and beyond scrambling to book them for a longer run as this is a show that feels important, relevant and vital to see.