Post by joem on Jan 27, 2020 23:18:16 GMT
A two-hander, written by Andy Dickinson, currently performing at the Park Theatre 90 which, incredibly and encouragingly, has sold out.
Based on real events which occurred during Shackleton's infamously aborted (due to the Endurance being trapped by pack-ice and sinking) Trans-Antarctic Expedition, where a starry-eyed young Welsh stowaway managed to get himself onto the ship, the play tracks their geographical progress from Buenos Aires through the Southern Ocean to the pack-ice, the escape to Elephant Island and Shackleton's epic 800 mile trip in a small boat with a makeshift sail through gales to South Georgia and a land crossing - up and down frozen mountains - to a whaling station and rescue for the rest of the men awaiting him. But it also tracks the relationship between "the Boss" and the least important member of his crew and the bonds which are created by their common humanity and love for adventure.
Committed performances from Richard Ede (Shackleton) and Elliott Ross (Stowaway), with judicial use of selected props, makes this an exercise in story-telling which harks back to the great days of "Boy's Own" derring-do and which, presumably, explains the interest this production has generated.
This play doesn't really say anything new about polar exploration or the spirit which drove it and probably nothing new about Shackleton either although bringing the Stowaway to the centre-stage is an interesting move. But it tells an interesting story and it a story well told.
Based on real events which occurred during Shackleton's infamously aborted (due to the Endurance being trapped by pack-ice and sinking) Trans-Antarctic Expedition, where a starry-eyed young Welsh stowaway managed to get himself onto the ship, the play tracks their geographical progress from Buenos Aires through the Southern Ocean to the pack-ice, the escape to Elephant Island and Shackleton's epic 800 mile trip in a small boat with a makeshift sail through gales to South Georgia and a land crossing - up and down frozen mountains - to a whaling station and rescue for the rest of the men awaiting him. But it also tracks the relationship between "the Boss" and the least important member of his crew and the bonds which are created by their common humanity and love for adventure.
Committed performances from Richard Ede (Shackleton) and Elliott Ross (Stowaway), with judicial use of selected props, makes this an exercise in story-telling which harks back to the great days of "Boy's Own" derring-do and which, presumably, explains the interest this production has generated.
This play doesn't really say anything new about polar exploration or the spirit which drove it and probably nothing new about Shackleton either although bringing the Stowaway to the centre-stage is an interesting move. But it tells an interesting story and it a story well told.
