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Jade Mia Broadhead discovers an often untold tale of unlikely heroism in a masterful one-hander
The most famous characters from the tragedy that was the sinking of the Titanic are the fictional Jack and Rose from James Cameron’s blockbuster movie. But theatre producer Tom Foreman’s aim is to shine the spotlight on the forgotten heroes: the crew of the stricken ship. Only 10% of the Titanic’s crew survived that fateful night. One of those was Frederick Barrett, a stoker from boiler room six, portrayed here fantastically by actor Charlie Sheepshanks. But Barrett’s voice is not the only one we hear, for in this one-man show, Sheepshanks gives voice to around half a dozen different characters who did not survive the sinking.
The one-hour show has minimal staging, in fact there are just two benches for Sheepshanks to throw themselves around in an exhaustingly energetic performance, taking us through the seven levels of hell from boiler room six to the mess hall to the living quarters and finally, to the deck to witness for the first time in his life, the full beauty of the ship just moments before she sank to the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean.
The play opens with Barrett facing questions from the congressional hearing before giving us a first hand account of his experiences of that night. Sheepshanks’ energy is extraordinary, with only the red smoke of the boiler room and the atmospheric sound effects to bounce off as we experience the sinking through his eyes. The life of the working class crew aboard the ship, the vivid characters thrown together to get one vessel from Southampton to New York. When tragedy strikes, Barrett is one of those who stays behind to try to provide light and power to the ship as it awaits a rescue that would come too late for most.
Yet Barrett’s story doesn’t end in the boiler room. He captains a lifeboat, once more given the task of saving lives. And then there’s the story which really breathes life into Barrett, something forgotten when we deal in hundreds of deaths: the personal side, the lost love and the survivor’s guilt that Barrett faces once he is back on dry land. Will he rescue that love like he did hundreds of people that night, or will he find himself married to a life at sea, shackled for all eternity with the guilt that he was just one of the 700 survivors compared to 1,500 who perished? Those who expect a happy ending may not get what they desire, but tonight, Sheepshanks was given a standing ovation with few dry eyes in the house for bringing a forgotten hero’s tale to life.
