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History at Large Inquest Titanic

devised by George Fleming Blackledge Theatre, The Godolphin School, Salisbury 4th June 1999

INQUEST Welcome to another of our celebrated History Lessons (the phrase that dare not speak its name!). Tonight we are employing the format of a mock Judicial Enquiry to examine some aspects of the "Titanic" disaster. At the end of the evening we will ask you, as our "Jury", to give a verdict on the degrees of culpability (or non-culpability) of various parties involved. The ballotting system will be explained to you in the course of the show. What you will see tonight is NOT a play: in fact it is hard to define what it is, in conventional theatrical terms. And, although it is our proud boast that we give our audiences history lessons, we hope, also, that our presentation rises above the conventional lecture theatre approach. "Inquest Titanic" is a kind of "controlled improvisation", in which actors, audio-visual aids and models have been brought together to explore this most famous of maritime tragedies and present it to you in what, we hope, is a factually informative and yet entertaining way! We hope you enjoy tonight's offering... TITANIC When she sailed from Southampton on her first and last voyage, R.M.S. "Titanic" was the largest moving object ever made. In every respect - engineering, style, comfort - she could fairly claim to be the finest, as well as the largest, passenger ship in the world. She carried over 2,000 passengers and crew. Her tragic loss, four days later, horrified the civilized world in the manner familiar to our own generation through events like those at Lockerbie and Dunblane. Inevitably, there has been a plethora of books, films, TV documentaries and (but of course!) conspiracy theories. Tonight we are conducting a purely factual examination of some - and only some - of the things which went wrong on that terrible night. But if our approach is non-emotional we hope that we will still convey something ot the human dimensions - the cleverness and folly ... the courage and cowardice ... the comedy and tragedy ... THE COURT Her Ladyship, Justice Buckingham - Ruth Buckingham Sir George Fleming Q.C. - George Fleming Mr Richard Clarke Q.C. - Richard Clarke The Maritime Assessor - Dee Mansfield Court Assistants - Gemma Bowes, Laura Buckingham THE WITNESSES J. Bruce Ismay - Dennis Swanston Sir Walter Howell - George Todd Harold Bride - Christian Jull Charles Lightoller - Dave Fawcett Fred Fleet - Alec Clapperton Robert Hitchins - Mike Coulson John McAndrew * - Joe Rooney Lady Lucille Duff-Gordon - Izzy Ford Mary Kelly - Nikki Angel-Jull Stanley Lord - Richard Thompson Alexander Carlisle - Eddie Burton 2nd Officer Deacon * - Debbie Rose Captain Smith * - Dee Mansfield * Fictitious characters added to create additional insight or to fill gaps caused by lack of suitable contemporary witnesses. All others are characters from 1912 THE BACKSTAGE CREW Lighting - Steve Lucas, Tony Pugh Sound - Frogg Moody Projectionist - Alistair Baker Costume - Sue Paramor Front of House - Pat Jull, Sandy Coombe, Rebecca Jones, Judith Fazackerley WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY George Fleming PRODUCED BY Sue Paramor FOR THE BLACKLEDGE THEATRE Ian Lawrence THE INCIDENTAL MUSIC Is from "Street of Tears", an original sound cassette of music by Frogg Moody and with lyrics and vocals by Sue Paramor. Frogg and Sue are both History at Large members and we are very pleased to be giving "Street of Tears" its first public airing in one of our shows! OUR THANKS TO: The Pheasant Inn, The Godolphin School, TOGS, The Stable Studios, Julian McDonald, Abacus, Currys For more information about History at Large please contact us

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