The Wider Earth E-Book

David Morton

• Herausgeber: Nick Hern Books
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Beschreibung

In 1831, Charles Darwin, a twenty-two-year-old aspiring naturalist, stepped on board HMS Beagle. Little did he realise that the voyage would last five years, changing not only his own life – but also the history of the entire world. The Wider Earth brings this era-defining adventure to life, from traversing the dizzying heights of the Andes to diving into the depths of the Brazilian rainforest, through weathering the storms of Tierra del Fuego, to exploring the endless wonders of the Galápagos Islands. It's a coming-of-age story about science and faith – of how one inquisitive young man asked a question of Mother Nature, and was set on course to discover the answer to one of the greatest mysteries of life on Earth. David Morton's play received its widely acclaimed premiere at Queensland Theatre in Australia in 2016, before transferring to the Natural History Museum, London, in October 2018, presented by Trish Wadley Productions, Dead Puppet Society and Glass Half Full Productions, in a partnership project with the Natural History Museum. Originally performed in a dazzling state-of-the-art production with remarkable puppetry and cinematic animations, the powerful story at the heart of The Wider Earth will inspire schools, colleges and amateur theatre companies to create simpler – but no less spectacular – stagings of their own. This edition includes 4 pages of colour production photos from the 2018 Sydney Festival and Sydney Opera House production.

Leseprobe

David Morton

THEWIDER EARTH

NICK HERN BOOKS

London

www.nickhernbooks.co.uk

Contents

Foreword

Author’s Note

Thanks

Original Production

Characters

Creatures

Locations

The Wider Earth

About the Author

Copyright and Performing Rights Information

Foreword

Professor Adrian Lister

I first encountered The Wider Earth having just completed research on the Beagle voyage for my book, Darwin’s Fossils. I thought I knew the story pretty well, but as I read the script of the play, the voyage, and Darwin’s part in it, came vividly to life for me in a new and powerful way. Darwin was in so many ways stepping into the unknown – he had led a comfortable, privileged life in England and had never been abroad, or at sea for any duration. Now, aged only twenty-two, he found himself sailing around the world, crammed with seventy-five sailors into a small vessel of the British Navy.

The Darwin of the Beagle voyage was not the bearded sage of popular imagery, but an energetic, enthusiastic young man with a passion for natural history and geology. He had longed to visit the tropics – the Beagle voyage was his dream come true and he was determined to lose no opportunity for discovery and adventure. Often when researching my book, I had been moved by Darwin’s prosaic descriptions of the natural wonders he had witnessed, and this enchantment is wonderfully conveyed in the visual imagery of The Wider Earth. The play forcefully shows that the work of a great scientist is not a soulless enterprise of dry calculation, but a personal, very human endeavour. We see how the voyage affected Darwin’s relations with his family, and how he managed the brilliant but often difficult Captain FitzRoy, who was his host.

It has been a tremendous pleasure for me to work with playwright David Morton and Nick Paine of the Dead Puppet Society as they created this script for the London production. The diaries and letters of both Darwin and FitzRoy provide a rich source of detail on the voyage, and on their personal thoughts and feelings as events unfolded. David, Nick and I discussed various key incidents and the development of Darwin’s thinking, and it has been exciting to see how these have been skilfully incorporated into the narrative. Above all, I have been impressed by the commitment of the writer and producers to ensure the historical and scientific accuracy of the script, without losing the sense of drama and adventure that makes The Wider Earth such a remarkable and inspiring theatrical experience.

Professor Adrian Lister is Research Leader in Palaeontology at the Natural History Museum, London, and Honorary Professor in Genetics, Evolution and Environment at University College London.

Author’s Note

David Morton

As a piece of visual theatre, the script for The Wider Earth intentionally makes use of ambitious stage directions to pose design challenges in the telling of the story. These are offered as a provocation for theatre artists to find inventive ways of incorporating visual forms into any production of the text, and should be read as a guide.

I encourage creative teams to find simple solutions to staging the visual elements, and to allow these extra considerations to promote play and innovation in their use of theatrical form. The story of The Wider Earth is about coming to terms with the complexity of the natural world, and I hope that future productions of the text embrace a similar commitment to generating moments of wonder.

Thanks

I would like to thank…

The cast and creatives who have dedicated their energy to bringing this story to life.

Nick Paine, who is the beating heart of our company.

Wesley Enoch, Sue Donnelly, Katherine Hoepper, Sam Strong, Amanda Jolly, and everyone at Queensland Theatre who championed the production.

Trish Wadley, who has made this version possible.

Clare Matterson who gave us a home at the Natural History Museum.

Professor Adrian Lister and Sebastian Born, for their input and guidance.

And Tony Brumpton, Justin Harrison, Aaron Barton and Sam Maher for being the perfect companions for the whole adventure.

D.M.

The Wider Earth was originally developed through The Lab (Matt Acheson and Krissy Smith, Lab Directors) at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn, New York City, USA, in 2014.

It was first presented by Queensland Theatre and Dead Puppet Society at the Bille Brown Studio, Brisbane, Australia, on 9 July 2016. The cast was as follows (in alphabetical order):

REVEREND JOHN HENSLOW/

Margi Brown Ash

SIR JOHN HERSCHEL

VOICE OF OLD DARWIN

Robert Coleby

CHARLES DARWIN

Tom Conroy

EMMA WEDGWOOD

Lauren Jackson

JOHN CLEMENTS WICKHAM

Thomas Larkin

ROBERT DARWIN/

David Lynch

RICHARD MATTHEWS

JEMMY BUTTON

Jonty Martin

ROBERT FITZROY

Anthony Standish

POLLY

Anna Straker

Writer/Director/Co-Designer/

David Morton

Puppet Fabricator

Creative Producer/

Nicholas Paine

Puppet Fabricator

Co-Designer

Aaron Barton

Lighting Designer

David Walters

Co-Composers

LiorTony Buchen

Sound Designer

Tony Brumpton

Projection Designer

Justin Harrison

Dramaturg

Louise Gough

Assistant Puppet Coach

Helen Stephens

Voice and Dialect Coach

Melissa Agnew

Illustrator and Puppet Arting

Anna Straker

Puppet Fabricator

Matthew Seery

Puppet Fabricator (Secondment)

Tia-Hanee Cleary

Stage Manager

Jodie Roche-Jones

Assistant Stage Manager/

Sam Maher

Sound Operator

The production transferred to the Sydney Opera House, as part of the Sydney Festival, on 17 January 2018.

The Wider Earth received its European premiere in a purpose-built theatre in the Jerwood Gallery at the Natural History Museum, London, on 12 October 2018 (previews from 2 October). The cast was as follows (in alphabetical order):

REVEREND JOHN HENSLOW/

Andrew Bridgmont

SIR JOHN HERSCHEL

JEMMY BUTTON

Marcello Cruz

CHARLES DARWIN

Bradley Foster

ROBERT DARWIN/

Ian Houghton

RICHARD MATTHEWS

ROBERT FITZROY

Jack Parry-Jones

JOHN CLEMENTS WICKHAM/

Matt Tait

ADAM SEDGWICK

EMMA WEDGWOOD

Melissa Vaughan

Understudies

Rory FairbairnKim Scopes

Writer/Director/Co-Designer

David Morton

Creative Producer

Nicholas Paine

Co-Designer

Aaron Barton

Co-Composers

LiorTony Buchen

Projection Designer

Justin Harrison

Sound Designer

Tony Brumpton

UK Lighting Designer

Lee Curran

Lighting Designer

David Walters

Puppet Design

Dead Puppet Society

Casting Director

Ellie Collyer-Bristow CDG

UK Dramaturg

Sebastian Born

Dramaturg

Louise Gough

Script Consultant

Professor Adrian Lister

Design Coordinator

Rebecca Brower

Technical Manager

Sam Maher

Company Stage Manager

Sophia Dalton

Assistant Stage Manager/

Karen Brown

Book Cover

Assistant Stage Manager

Kim Scopes

Lead Producer

Trish Wadley Productions

Creator and Producer

Dead Puppet Society

Co-Producer

Glass Half Full Productions

Associate Producer

Queensland Theatre

DEAD PUPPET SOCIETY (Creator and Producer)

Dead Puppet Society is a visual theatre and design company working across Australia and in New York City. Initially developed at St. Ann’s Warehouse and Lincoln Centre, The Wider Earth premiered with Queensland Theatre in 2016 and transferred to the Sydney Opera House for Sydney Festival in 2018. Their most recent production, Laser Beak Man (with Brisbane Festival and La Boite in association with PowerArts), premiered in 2017 following a two-year residency at The New Victory Theater in New York City.

Prior to this, the Society created a suite of works with various companies in Brisbane before undertaking mentorship with Handspring Puppet Company (War Horse) in South Africa in 2013, and breaking into the international touring market with their critically acclaimed work Argus (Lincoln Center, Kravis Center Florida, Australian national tour). Previous works include The Harbinger (La Boite Theatre Company, Australian national tour), The Timely Death of Victory Blott (Metro Arts) and Little Grey Wolf (Brisbane Festival and Adelaide Fringe). The Society has received several awards from The Jim Henson Foundation for the creation of new work, and was awarded the Gold Matilda Award in 2017 for their body of work.

TRISH WADLEY PRODUCTIONS (Lead Producer)

Trish Wadley spent twenty years working internationally in media before moving to London theatre and has worked at the Bush Theatre and Tricycle Theatre.

As Executive Producer for Defibrillator: A Lie of the Mind (Southwark Playhouse); Speech & Debate (Trafalgar Studios); Insignificance (Langham Place, New York); The Armour (Langham, London); The Hotel Plays (Langham, London and Grange Hotel); The One Day of the Year and Hard Feelings (Finborough).

As producer: Olivier-nominated The Red Lion (Trafalgar Studios); Fresh Lines (Spring, Somerset House); Burning Bridges (Theatre503).

As co-producer: My Night With Reg (Apollo Theatre).

Trish is a Stage One Bursary recipient and director of The Uncertainty Principle. She is also a founder of The Australian & New Zealand Festival of Literature & Arts (FANZA).

GLASS HALF FULL PRODUCTIONS (Co-Producer)

Glass Half Full Productions is managed by Gareth Lake and founded by Gareth and Adam Blanshay. UK credits include King Lear, Caroline, or Change, Glengarry Glen Ross, Daisy Pulls It Off, Oslo, Hamlet, Dreamgirls, Buried Child, Funny Girl, The Spoils, Doctor Faustus, Made in Dagenham, Sunny Afternoon, The Nether, Shrek UK tour, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, I Can’t Sing, Ghost Stories, 1984, Ghosts. Broadway credits include Groundhog Day, Sunday in the Park with George, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, and the transfer from Shakespeare’s Globe of Twelfth Night/Richard III. International credits include Matilda and My Fair Lady in Australia, and the international tour of the Blue Man Group.

QUEENSLAND THEATRE (Associate Producer)