The haunting photo of the five explorers in a tableau, two sitting in front, three standing behind, projects on the bright white back wall of the stage. These are the proud Englishmen of Captain Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated expedition. They are at the South Pole, and, though they realize they have been beaten by Norwegian Roald Amundsen and his party, Scott decides to take the photo anyway, the Union Jack hoisted behind them. It is 1912. The photo, an actual record of this historic moment, is faded. The men gaze straight ahead, seemingly expressionless within their massive parkas.
Five young actors assume that tableau in front of the photograph at the end of the first of two acts of Terra Nova, Ted Tally's evocative historical drama, currently playing at Theatre Intime on the Princeton University campus.
None of the men in that photo survived. The film was found with their frozen bodies, only eleven miles away from completing a safe return to their base camp. Also remaining were Scott's eloquent journals and letters, the source material for Terra Nova.
Mr. Tally, best known for his screenplay of Silence of the Lambs (1991), wrote Terra Nova in 1977 when still a graduate student at Yale School of Drama. It is a captivating tale of tragic heroism, mystery, and adventure, interweaving the bleak fate of the five explorers with scenes from Scott's memory and imagination. Amundsen, whose harsh, pragmatic approach to the competition clashes with Scott's aristocratic British sense of fair play, appears as a sort of master of ceremonies, presiding over the tragic events.
Scenes of Edwardian England on the verge of World War I, and of Scott's troubled relationship with his wife Kathleen, provide a counterpoint to the main drama, as the grim fate of the doomed expedition grinds on.
Theatre Intime's production of Ted Tally's "Terra Nova" runs for one more weekend, Thursday through Saturday, December 7-9, with shows at 8 p.m. each day and an additional matinee on Dec. 9 at 2 p.m. Call (609) 258-1742 or visit www.princeton.edu/utickets for tickets and further information.
The Theatre Intime ensemble, under the direction of Princeton University junior Douglas Lavanture, is a capable, spirited group, but the challenges for this production seem almost as daunting as those of Scott's mission. Nothing that happens on stage is quite able to measure up to the evocative power and intensity of the original photographs projected on the back wall — first the images of the Terra Nova, Scott's ship bringing the men to the frigid continent, then the final picture of the five Englishmen who never returned.
The British accents here are a problem in their lack of consistency and comprehensibility. Improvements in diction and projection in the upcoming final weekend could provide a significant boost in communicating this drama to the audience. Also, though Mr. Tally's characterizations of the five are striking at times, these figures lack the depth and three-dimensionality necessary to deliver the full weight of the tragedy in the second act.
Liz Abernethy's stark, simple white set, with fabric providing contour and variation, effectively creates the austere frozen tundra, with assistance from lighting by Shawn Fennell and Josh Williams, and haunting sound designed by Mr. Lavanture. But the fact that the characters only sporadically seem to actually be suffering the effects of the cold and harsh conditions makes it difficult for the audience to care deeply about them.
As a red-haired physically imposing Amundsen, Thomas Dollar succeeds in capturing the spirit of this brutal, win-at-all-costs leader. "Toughen your heart, English," he warns Scott. Amundsen, lacking the quaint British notion of fair play, will sacrifice his dogs and men, if necessary, for the survival and success of his mission. Mr. Dollar is strong and clear, witty and acerbic, effectively wielding the menacing demeanor of the antagonist.
Max Staller as Scott, though less than charismatic, does at times communicate the complexity and heroism, the obsession and inner turmoil of this figure, in a range of interactions with his wife Kathleen (Cate Adams), with Amundsen, with his men, and with his own doubts and fears. Kut Adogan, as the tough, cynical Oates uses his London roots to advantage to handle the language deftly and create a strong characterization; Shawn Fennell is the upbeat jokester of the band; Stephen Strenio plays the ingenuous, hapless youth who is injured early on and eventually declines into madness; and Damian Carrieri is the doctor who can provide little beyond morphine and opium tablets to mitigate the suffering.
Ms. Adams has her best moments in the second act, particularly in a scene flashing back to her early courtship with Scott, and then her final scene, where she receives the belated news of her husband's death.
For my own sake I do not regret this journey," Scott wrote in his final journal entry, adapted as the final speech of the play. "We took risks, we knew we took them; things have come out against us, and therefore we have no cause for complaint. Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance, and courage of my companions which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman. These rough notes and our dead bodies must tell the tale." Heroic words, indeed — the kind of heroism, patriotism, honor, and devotion to duty that may have been lost in World War I and the subsequent decline of the British Empire, but lives again in Ted Tally's grim and memorable Terra Nova.