Review: ‘Swept Away’ at Berkeley Rep tries to do an awful lot — and mostly succeeds

You could do a lot worse than a musical that serves up the songs of the Avett Brothers and one of the best stage shipwreck scenes ever.

That is what Berkeley Repertory Theatre is offering with its world premiere staging of “Swept Away,” a stuffed-to-the-gills 90-minute musical about a whaling ship disaster and its horrific aftermath that was supposed to debut nearly two years ago.

Given Berkeley Rep’s history of launching Broadway musicals (Green Day’s “American Idiot,” “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations”) a lot is expected from “Swept Away.” Heck, this is a show that seems to expect a lot from itself. It doesn’t always deliver on its lofty goals, but even when it drifts, “Swept Away” is never less than compelling. Part of that is due to the world-class talent behind the show.

First, there is Avett Brothers, the hugely popular North Carolina roots-rock band whose music is gorgeous, timeless and perfectly suited to a 19th-century sailing tale (until it’s not). The band’s third album, “Mignonette,” was inspired by an 1880s whaling ship disaster, but the show actually takes its songs from throughout the Avett Brothers catalogue.

The book was written by Tony-nominated playwright/screenwriter John Logan (“Red”). And the director is Broadway heavyweight Michael Mayer (“American Idiot,” “Spring Awakening”) who seems to have an affinity for stories with tragedy and soul-searching.

The cast is ship-shape from top to bottom, starting with Tony Award-winner John Gallagher Jr., who worked with Mayer on “American Idiot” and “Spring Awakening.” Here, he is terrific as Mate, the surviving member of the shipwreck, seen at the show’s beginning being pressured by the spirits of doomed crewmates to tell the story of the disaster. A restless soul through life, he’s equally tormented on his death bed.

We flash back to meet the whaling crew at the start of the voyage. There’s the world-weary captain (Wayne Duvall) who knows that the whaling business and his way of life are nearly done. And there are two newcomers — a young, restless runaway farmhand (Adrian Blake Enscoe) and his devoted, protective older brother (Stark Sands).

The four men and their crewmates, backed by a six-piece band, deliver terrific renditions of Avett Brothers songs while depicting cliched aspects of ship life — the camaraderie, the rivalries, the bawdy energy, the bro-ness — until we get to that world-class shipwreck.

OK, full disclosure — I am not an expert on staged shipwreck scenes. I have no idea how many have been attempted over the years, and if I have witnessed any such scenes before I can’t say I remember them. What I can say is “Swept Away’s” shipwreck scene is out and out stunning, and amounts to several minutes of some of the most exhilarating theater I have seen. It extends from the swaying choreography of sailors as they first encounter the storm, to the sonic pounding of the climactic assault (sound design by Kai Harada) to the brutal capsizing of the whaling ship (scenic design by Rachel Hauck), leaving behind a claustrophobic lifeboat with four men (Mate, the captain and two farmhands) clinging to life.

What happens among the four men from here on in is best left unsaid, though take my word for it, this is no “Gilligan’s Island.” This is brutal, existential stuff that ultimately leads to a plaintive examination of whether survival at all costs trumps death with principle.

This is also the point at which “Swept Away” reaches its own greatest existential challenge. Because once you have four guys in a boat on the ocean, and the audience pretty much knows what’s going to happen to them, it’s really hard to keep the momentum going beyond a slow, steady, grinding tension. Even a twist involving one crewmate’s decision, shocking as it is, doesn’t erase the plodding sense of the inevitable.

Yes, there are more Avett Brothers songs, but they only call into question whether the band’s music — which even at its most mournful is more stirring than horrific — really suits the subject matter here.

The overall result is a sonic, emotional and philosophical hodgepodge that doesn’t always work but somehow remains compelling throughout.

The world is a cruel, cruel vessel, and after the past two years, we hardly need to be reminded of that. Yet there is something about “Swept Away” — the creative and technical brilliance behind it, perhaps, or its piercing emotional directness — that will make you mostly glad you took the journey.

‘SWEPT AWAY’

World premiere; book by John Logan, music and lyrics by the Avett Brothers, presented by Berkeley Repertory Theatre

Through: March 6

Where: Berkeley Rep’s Peet’s Theatre, 2025 Addison St., Berkeley

Tickets: $37-$186; 510-647-2949, www.berkeleyrep.org