1
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9
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SD
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-The wind fades away.
-They all stare out and down.
-The sound of the wind is heard.
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WILSON
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-We’ve done almost nine miles already!
-It may have dropped off three or four degrees.
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OATES
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-Saved East Grinstead from the dreaded Boer menace.
-There I was, alone in the Transvaal, facing fifty of the brutes…
-Thighbone shattered – just here – and the sun.
-It’s good-bye to the tropic climes.
-Promise me you’ll put in for a cooler line of work – Antarctica!
-His legs are like wood.
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SCOTT
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-We’ve done nine miles today
-Eighteen
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EVANS
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-How far to the Pole?
-Tracks. Of dogs.
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The sound of wind continues to haunt
We’ve done almost nine miles (distance)
How far to the pole (uncertainty of location)
Tracks of dogs make us realize we are behind the race
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1
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10
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SD
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-He scrambles to the sled
-Oates is knocked to the ground
-Scott takes a British flag from his parka
-The wind becomes slightly louder
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BOWERS
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-They cross-checked from different co-ordinates!
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OATES
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-They could’ve been off a hundred yards!
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EVANS
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-I mean we did get here, eight hundred miles on foot.
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SCOTT
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-We’re at the Pole
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|
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KATHLEEN
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-My dearest Con
-I walked along the beach
-Where the river flows in to the sea.
-I saw the very tuft of grass that we sat upon
-Exquisite sunset over the marshes
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|
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SCOTT
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-Eight hundred miles to march home
-This is an awful place!
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|
|
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SD
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-The wind rises
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|
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-an image is projected; actual photograph of the men at the Pole.
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Eight hundred miles on foot (the vastness of land traveled here is difficult to comprehend)
We’re at the pole (hopeful of conquering distance goal)
My dearest Con-Walked along beach—tuft of grass –sunset over the marshes is so far away from where Scott finds himself
Pulled back by awful place-eight hundred miles to march home-awful place is complete opposite of Scott’s familiar
Wind rises as we see a projection of the men away from home at the frigid Pole
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-Eight hundred miles to march home
-This is an awful place!
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ACT 2
2
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1
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SD
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-Darkness and silence
-Waltz is played softly
-A series of slides appears; Young Prince Edward, wearing a top hat and smoking a cigar at a jaunty angle.
-A street scene in Edwardian London. Men in bowler hats and holding canes
-Elegant men and women at a lawn party. The women hold croquet mallets. All smile and squint at the camera, peering into bright sunlight.
-Henley Regatta, sunlight
-Edwardian children at play. The girls wear ruffled skirts, and the boys, knickers
-An elegant restaurant; municipal park
-A crowd of people standing on a dock watching a three-masted steamship being towed in for mooring.
-Tiny mysterious flashes, beautiful chandelier; floral arrangement
-They sit at the table
-Bowers, also in evening dress; waltz music
-A waiter enters
-French terms
-Drinking
-strange lighting, pale, eerie streaks of red and lavender and green tumble and shift across the cyclorama, in ghostly vertical slashes. The chandelier is flown out
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|
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SD
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-They sit at the table
-Bowers, also in evening dress; waltz music
-A waiter enters—(Am. In costume)
-French terms
-Drinking
Waltz music swells
-strange lighting, pale, eerie streaks of red and lavender and green tumble and shift across the cyclorama, in ghostly vertical slashes. The chandelier is flown out
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WILSON
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-Did you manage a look at their cellar?
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BOWERS
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-maison, Bordeaux – LOTS OF FRENCH REFERENCES
Yes! To our sweethearts and wives – may they never meet!
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|
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SCOTT
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That’s all, waiter; Bring along the wine
His Majesty. Gentlemen – I give you the King
“The King”
reunions
none of you had to go south
what we’ve accomplished
let us get on with the food
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OATES
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-And thanks be to God for a safe return to our families.
|
Darkness and silence followed by waltz music speaks of a different world
Projections remind us of specific times in history
Chandelier-another worlds
Table at French restaurant
The men at table ordering exquisite French menu items jolt us into sophisticated dining environment
Hopeful dream illustrated of safe and happy return home to family
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2
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2
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SD
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Amundsen enters—no longer waiter—his own coat
strange lighting, pale, eerie streaks of red and lavender and green tumble and shift across the cyclorama, in ghostly vertical slashes. The chandelier is flown out
Chairs off-table cloth removed---becomes sled again
Am. Takes Scott’s parka out of sled…helps Scott remove evening jacket and put on arctic gear
Wilson, Bowers and Oates enter in Antarctic clothes
To sled--they pick up leather traces
Exit with sled
She (K)carries a small sculpture on its working tripod, covered with wet cloth
She wears a smock over a different dress from first act
Takes out tools---begins to work
Wind and Southern Lights both fade
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Am.
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There’s large enough space to explore
Aurora Australis
Radiant energy released in the high atmosphere
Form, color, movement---mysterious…..used to watch Northern Lights as children
Fluid streams constantly down his leg and freezes there in seconds
His ears are lost—the tip of nose—the mind clouded –dull-stupid
Home?
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Scott
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Southern Lights
Flames exploding in air
Colors falling from the sky….
The fiery handwriting of the gods
Home
The thought of home
Nothing I could say or do could possibly stop them from thinking of home….
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Kathleen
|
Captain Scott
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We move to a different place as Am.is no longer the waiter but in his own coat as are the other men.
There is a light show to represent the Southern Lights
Chandelier is flown out and table is transformed back into sled to let us know we are moving on
Another change of location as Kathleen enters wearing a smock, a different dress than Act 1, and carrying a sculpture
Wind and Southern Lights fade as we continue
Large enough space to explore (Vastness)
Fluid streams constantly down his leg and freezes there in seconds
His ears are lost—the tip of nose—the mind clouded –dull-stupid----the effects of this cruel part of the world
Flames exploding in air
Colors falling from the sky….
The fiery handwriting of the gods….clearly paints pictures in the mind of the unique qualities of this world
We hear numerous references to home which seems a world away
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2
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3
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SCOTT
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-Good – good afternoon, Miss Bruce
-Visiting celebrities
-reading about you in the papers that at least you might turn out to be some sort of wild romantic, a visionary, a modern Columbus in furs and wind burns. But that’s not at all the man I met last night.
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KATHLEEN
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-Piece of clay
-Sculpture
-The way they make a sacred national hero of you in the schools now. They old you up as an example to the children.
-The Times
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SD
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-Kathleen works
-Oates enters with sled
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WILSON
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-Shall I go back for Evans.
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|
Modern Columbus in furs and winds refers to a place she can only imagine
Two locations in this scene—K in studio and the cold place.
The Times associate with the civilized world as opposed to this one
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2
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4
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SD
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She turns to her sculpture
Working at her sculpture
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|
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Oates
|
Retie his boot straps
This morning he asked me which way was the lily pond
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Wilson
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Should we haul Evans on the sled
Severe falls, shock and exposure
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|
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Two opposing worlds in this scene as well
Severe falls, shock and exposure----again, referring to the relentless nature of this place
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2
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5
|
SD
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Kathleen takes up sculpture and exits, leaving tripod behind
Am.-who has watched in silence while seated on the sled
All remain
Moving back to sled with tripod
Searching the distance
Opens crate-seizes telescope-gives to Scott
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Kathleen
|
Tonight----
My studio
Peter was there in the doorway, sleepy from bed
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Am.
|
Lord, this is a lonely place
Do you suppose anyone knows we’re here?
It will be all over the papers about the Norskies
They
They’ll
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Oates
|
They’re hellish
….anyone knows we’ve failed or even cares?
It’d have to be Jupiter---that’s a cold one too-I think
They
They’ll
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|
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Wilson
|
Beautiful. I’m fascinated by them
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|
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Scott
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I’d sooner silence than the wind
There’s four hundred miles of open land between us and them
Intervening terrain
We’ve got to the pole and back again
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|
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Bowers
|
What do you think it will be like—getting back?
Both houses of parliament and the press
they
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Interesting manner of smoothly transitioning as Kathleen leaves tripod while exiting
Studio/home location versus snow desert
Comparison of location to another planet (Jupiter)
Both houses of parliament and press ---back to a familiar world
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2
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6
|
SD
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Follow
Blanket from sled
Front of sled and picks up traces
Surges forward powerfully
Hauls sled off
Evans has removed his coat-hat-mittens
Hands are purple and splotchy-fingers so stiff they can barely be bent
Black streaks shoot up his wrists and forearms
Blood trickles from one ear
Unlaces his boots
Lines his boots up neatly
Carrying the blanket
Now bare-chested
Rolls across ground with terrifying energy-
Throws blanket over him
Grabbing Scott’s coat
Bowers kneels beside Evans and arranges the blanket about him
The wind and Southern Lights fade away
The stage goes colder, darker
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Evans
|
Come in and close the door—tea is on (Mental)
I said close door…
We’re late for chapel
Shhhh-They like their sleep on Sunday morning
Everything tidy before services
Butter and honey—I smell them baking
Hot—it’s so hot (Mental cont.)
Mother, help me I’m burning alive
Yes, so hot
hot
Like fire
Like fire
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Scott
|
Run on back
Setup tent---light the stove
We’ve got to go now
We’re going home
Now we’re all going home…
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Details are given about the physical toll that this land is having-especially on Evans
We are given a new location, but this location is in Evans’s failing mind as he thinks he is back home preparing for Sunday morning worship services---Hallucinating
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2
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7
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Kathleen
|
Con? Say goodnight to Peter
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Scott
|
Yes –goodnight Peter…
I’d gone to the Antarctic and been in The Times
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SD
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Kathleen picks up one or two items of Evan’s clothing amused at mess he’s made
Kathleen and Evans are left alone in a small circle of light, as the stage around them grows darker, blue shadows creeping in.
Kathleen kisses Scott’s forehead and rises: she picks up Evans’s boots, then exits slowly
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Evans continues in his own world of his mind—He is hot and burning alive
Evans references his mother as he complains of heat ---opposite of the frigid nature in which we know he actually is
Two locations again
Evans becomes Peter and Kathleen assists in clearing the set away from the world of home.
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