The Wild Unfeeling World - Adelaide Fringe 2026

The Wild Unfeeling World

The Courtyard of Curiosities - The Yurt

The Wild Unfeeling World is a witty, inventive and unexpectedly tender reimagining of Moby Dick from multi-award-winning writer and storyteller Casey Jay Andrews.

Casey Jay Andrews is always a must-see for me and this beautiful show is no exception!

Taking Herman Melville’s vast seafaring epic and re-anchoring it in the everyday landscapes of contemporary London, Andrews creates a work that is both intimate and exhilarating, proving that the story of obsession, longing and impossible pursuit still resonates deeply in the modern world.

Most audiences have at least a passing familiarity with Moby Dick: the white whale, the captain bent on revenge, the mythic struggle between human will and the unknowable forces of the world. But Andrews gently disarms that expectation from the outset. In an informal introduction, she reminds us that this version is not really about a whale at all. Instead, The Wild Unfeeling World reframes the narrative through the life of Dylan, a burnt-out twenty-something who finds herself lying on the rooftop of a multi-storey car park in Southwest London at 4.30 in the morning, watching jumbo jets rumble through the crisp dawn sky.

Dylan is struggling through a series of personal setbacks that have arrived with disorienting speed: work, home and stability all slipping out of reach. Faced with the mundanity and quiet suffocation of modern despair, she embarks on an oddly ambitious quest - to walk across London to the Sea Life aquarium, attempting to reconnect with some sense of wonder through the power of childhood nostalgia.

Within the intimate setting of the Yurt, Andrews performs with a handful of simple objects and minimal design. A painted blue tarp becomes an incoming wave, while simple items - a box labelled “notebooks, sketchbooks, etc.” a model boat, lots of small cats – all help tell the story of Dylan’s unravelling world. In words and objects Andrews conjures an entire cityscape and emotional universe, demonstrating a remarkable ability to transform small details into vivid theatrical imagery.

Part of the pleasure of the piece lies in the deceptively casual storytelling style Andrews adopts. We gather to hear a story told by someone who understands both its absurdity and its emotional weight. With warmth and calm authority, Andrews is our captain, guiding the audience through Dylan’s wandering thoughts and strange encounters.

Along the way, the narrative drifts through seemingly unrelated observations - desire paths across grass, the number of planes currently in the sky, risk-assessment forms, the psychology of object permanence. These digressions quietly mirror the way an anxious mind moves, circling outward before slowly revealing the deeper emotional currents underneath. Andrews gently pulls the audience into Dylan’s interior landscape, making us walk beside her as she navigates a city that feels at once enormous and isolating.

The piece balances humour, philosophical reflection and emotional vulnerability with impressive control. Melvillean themes of obsession and pursuit remain present, but they are reframed through contemporary experiences of burnout, uncertainty and loneliness. Dylan’s quest becomes less about conquering an external monster and more about confronting the quiet, stubborn feeling that life’s meaning has slipped just beyond reach.

Yet the beauty of The Wild Unfeeling World lies in its refusal to remain trapped in despair. As the story unfolds, small acts of connection appear - strangers, animals, fleeting moments of kindness. The play’s bittersweet conclusion may depart from Melville’s original narrative, but Andrews replaces tragedy with something far more resonant - the fragile hope that comes from simply asking for help.

The work reminds us that even in the depths of anxiety and uncertainty, there is always someone willing to reach out a hand. Through skilled storytelling, gentle humour and deeply human insight, Casey Jay Andrews transforms an ancient literary obsession into a quietly powerful meditation on resilience, connection and the courage it takes to keep going

Review by Kate Gaul