My brother really likes going to plays. This was something I did not know until he came to visit me in England – he’s become so cultured. Who knew. So, when searching through The Stage Stortford’s booklet that comes through our door every month, he picked out a few plays that caught his eye, the first one being Shackleton’s Carpenter. I didn’t know much about the play, but grabbed some tickets and set out with him and Dann to attend.
I’ve not actually been to a local play or a larger London based play since coming to England. In school, we use to take big trips to bigger cities, in order to see large plays around Christmas. These always had tons of actors, loads of scenes, different backgrounds, etc. Going to a local play, I had no idea what to expect. Shackleton’s Carpenter is a play done entirely by a single actor – which is already an amazing feat. Talking to ghosts and random members of the audience, Harry McNish tells his tale of being the only man who challenged the boss who manned their ship on the Antarctic ice floes.
It’s a pretty sad tale, a man now with nothing, who has even lost his hands. He spent his life on the Antarctic, stranded and being the only person to help save the crew despite the bosses orders. He was able to save the crew and help everyone make it back home, but the boss was not happy with this sort of disobedience, meaning that Harry was one of the few members of the crew who didn’t get the Polar Medal, and thus had a poor rest of his life, now living on a small boat right by some land.
Harry talks to his boss, his ghost cat, and many others, telling them of his tales and asking why they have done this to him. The actor tends to reference whiskey often, taking a swig from a large bottle in his little boat, which is a purely genus way to keep your throat hydrated from all the yelling and talking he does, on his own, within the play. I can’t imagine trying to memorize and even hold a stage on my own for the entire time, but in Shackleton’s Carpenter, Harry McNish played by Malcolm Rennie really does an amazing job of holding everyone’s attention. The sad tale comes to a sudden end, one that can be expected as Harry continues talking to more and more ghosts, clearly in pain by his past, but it was wonderful hearing his story.
You can find out where Shackleton’s Carpenter is next touring by keeping an eye on their Facebook page.
You can check out our other Days Out to see what else we’ve been up too!