If a “science-fiction pirate horror comedy” sounds like just the type of thing to reel you in, then you would be remiss not to dive into the inky black depths of Bladderwrack. A salty mix of Lovecraftian beasts, seriously stupid comedy, stupidly clever writing, opera, pantomime and seafaring scallywaggery – the debut of this new Australian work has plenty of ghastly delights to behold.

Co-created by David Tredinnick (actor/writer/director) and Adam Browne (award-winning writer and illustrator) and co-produced by Theatre Works, Bladderwrack is dripping in a heady brine of its own nonsense. 

Oscar Munroe and David Tredinnick in Bladderwrack. Photo © Steven Mitchell Wright

At the eye of this storm of chaos are Saucy Jack and Bagfoot – played by Tredinnick with Oscar Munro – an ancient pirate pair who have been surviving in the bloated belly of a sunken ship for decades, sustained by the strange ecosystem that has overtaken the bilge around them. 

But as they while away their days (im)patiently fishing for the ghastly eyeless fish(?) that quell their hunger and clinging to...