‘We seem to be drifting in a strange world of unreality…’
captured in Jenny Worton’s episodic piece where we saw Ernest engage with his men, encourage, cajole, lead and struggle, with ever-mindful acknowledgement, as the guilt and loneliness encroached like pack-ice, that his exploits were indeed truly heroic. Alex Holley delivered an astonishingly mature performance, compelling not just for inhabiting Shackleton’s character as the sequence of disastrous events unfolded, but also for his ability to keep the stage charged at moments of poetic intensity. This was matched by Clara Morel in the role of Alice, ever-present on stage, stalking and icily watching, delivering a nuanced and captivating performance. I watched the development and rehearsal process as a real journey for the both creative team and the performers. Experimentation was key, and all relished playing with the dialogue, articulating time-shifts and finding a language for the complicated movement of the boat, the storm, memories, the ice, as well as dogs and penguins. Kathryn Norton-Smith and Peter Jolly’s theatrical invention was fuelled further with the collaboration of designer Hillary Baxter from Wimbledon School of Art, who integrated the visual language of the play symbolically and expressionistically, with the traverse configuration creating intimacy while giving a sense of epic scale. As ever, it is the ensemble and the collective stagecraft that impresses most. There are many moments that endure: the conjuring of the boat from the memory of the young Shackie (charmingly played by Jonny Stone); the sequence of toil by the men carving their way through pack ice while the weight of responsibility and determination bears down on Shackleton during a strategic chess game with his right-hand man Francis Wild (played with measured maturity by Hamish Lloyd Barnes); the wit and energy of the football game on the ice juxtaposed with the drinking game at the Halley Research base. The elegiac encounters between Ernest and his sister Alice – echoed by the brooding intimacy between by Doctor Alice Shackleton and the mountaineer and poet Jonno venturing out to seek ‘the third who always walks beside you’ possessed a poetic, other-worldly quality. The cast were remarkable in their ability to imagine, create and devise, and their liquid merging of worlds was most evident during a beautifully choreographed nightmare sequence that blended a live sound scape of echoed dialogue with a haunting underscore of music and distorted effects – and the deafening ever-present noise of ice. GC
Ernest Shackleton
Shackleton is referring here to Antarctic mirages thrown up by ice reflected in the water. As I wrote the play, this was the line that stayed with me, and its meaning began to broaden. Shackleton had been to Antarctica before, and he would go again – it had a pull for him, as it has for many. This is where I began to stumble upon an answer to what interested me most. I believe there is something irresistible in the extremity of the place, an allure more akin to surrender than conquest, in spite of all the associated jingoism. While the facts lead us to focus on Shackleton’s extraordinary physical feat, I found myself lingering more on the internal. As with many record-breaking death- defying acts, flesh and blood are just the means; our fascination is with the endurance of the mind, the spirit, because in that less tangible internal world we learn something about the condition of being human. So the play took its shape as much from this strange world of unreality as it did from the hard facts. Certainly, it is not the only answer to my question, but I hope it is one. JW ‘Men wanted… for hazardous journey, small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful, honour and recognition in case of success...’ Colliding past and present, an ensemble of 35 have created a vivid, evocative and memorable production featuring one of the most famous Dulwich alumni. By today’s standards, Shackleton was an unlikely explorer, with little scientific training or interest. He wasn’t even particularly enthralled by snow and ice. He was motivated by the lure of fame and wealth – and exploration was the best way he knew to get them. Shackleton’s great gift was his personality. He was irresistibly charming, in part because he ignored social hierarchy and treated everyone the same. He was an instinctive, natural leader who somehow inspired others to share impossible hardships with him. This was acutely THE WHITE ROAD: SENIOR PRODUCTION 2016
114
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker