Review: Sevrin Fay, The Water Rats 

There’s a marked change in atmosphere as I walk from the bustle of a busy pub in the heat of a London summer, a stone’s throw from the heaving centre of King’s Cross station, to the intimate set tucked at the back of The Water Rats. Quiet and contemplative, the small stage contains a collection of unusual instruments: Celtic harp, violin, percussion and bass, ready for Sevrin Fay. 

Before sitting, we are asked to draw wooden tokens from a bag and assured that all will be revealed at the end of the show. These represent runes: ancient Scandinavian symbols imbued with magical and mystical meaning. 

Ukrainian musician and storyteller Ekaterina Gopenko opens the show with a question to the audience: “How many of you speak Russian?”. Some, I think is the response, although it is hard to tell. She laughs, throwing her head back, and I am briefly worried given that I don’t. But worry not: this immersive spectacle needs little translation. 

Sevrin Fay is a beautiful and calming experience, built from sweeping acoustic soundscapes performed by the talented Nemnogo Nervno ensemble directed by Gopenko whose voice aches with longing. It is difficult not to be drawn into its melancholy. Ancient worlds collide in the storytelling threaded throughout the performance, with each song or chapter represented by a rune and unfolding like a dark fairy tale of magic, love and loss. 

An English-speaking performer, dressed in a costume reminiscent of John Proctor from The Crucible, enters to introduce the meaning of each rune before it is performed, aided by an English translation projected onto a screen at the back of the stage. We are urged to “forget the exterior” and simply surrender to the sound, which, we are promised, will be soothing for the soul. 

Described as a northern mystery in which the boundaries between past, present and future are blurred, the performance is an intentional response to the chaos of our current world; one marred by pandemics, wars and an energy crisis. Here, rune divination becomes as valid a means of understanding and shaping the future as anything else. For thousands of years, humanity has turned towards the supernatural in times of great upheaval, and Sevrin Fay taps into that enduring impulse. 

It is ultimately a communal experience: entrancing, compelling and cathartic, with the nationalities and languages of those present irrelevant. Costumes and the slideshow backdrop reinforce the importance of the natural world, while star-laden halo headdresses worn by the women introduce a touch of Greek mythology. 

Sevrin Fay succeeds because it asks little of its audience beyond a willingness to surrender to its atmosphere. In the hushed surroundings of The Water Rats, it feels less like watching a performance than stepping briefly into another world, one governed by music, folklore and the possibility that the future might still be written in the runes. 

And as for the runes inscribed on wooden tokens we all choose? On leaving we receive an envelope that describes the rune we have been given and what it means for us as an individual. I shall wait to see what becomes of mine. 

Created by Ekaterina Gopenko 

Sevrin Fay has comepleted its run at this year’s Camden Fringe.