The White Road

By Karen Tarjan

Embark on a Frozen Odyssey! Unearth the indomitable spirit of Ernest Shackleton in a gripping tale of survival, courage, and camaraderie, as his Antarctic journey unfolds on stage. The White Road, where the human spirit meets the harshest elements, forging a legacy that transcends the frozen abyss.

Award-winning playwright Karen Tarjan's play tells the story of Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated attempt to cross Antarctica from sea to sea, via the South Pole. When their ship, The Endurance, is crushed by pack ice over a thousand miles from civilization, Shackleton and his crew have only one path ahead of them: the White Road. An incredible tale of survival in near-impossible conditions when all hope seems lost.

"Karen Tarjan's thrilling play, The White Road, now receiving a wonderfully vivid, powerfully physical, often blackly comic world premiere… Tarjan demonstrates great flair for spinning an adventure yarn."—Chicago Sun-Times 

"Shackleton was also a poet, considered one of the best Antarctic poets of the period. This sense of romantic heroism flows throughout The White Road, as we experience a superbly well-told tale of survival."—Chicago Stage Standard 

"An intense adventure that pits man against nature at its most vicious form. Based on the true heroics of Irish-born polar explorer Ernest Shackleton, The White Road tells the story of yet another incredible undertaking where all hope lies solely in one's will to survive."—Buzznews.net 

"There's no denying the visceral exhilaration of [this] classic man-against-nature yarn."—Windy City Times

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sordelet Ink
• Release date: Mar 11, 2024
• ISBN: 9781957328362

Book preview

The White Road

A Play Of Shackleton

by

Karen Tarjan

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, events, and organizations portrayed in this work are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously.

The White Road

Copyright © 2015 by Karen Tarjan

Edited by Robert Kauzlaric

ISBN 13: 978-1957328362

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval without permission in writing from the author.

For information about production rights, email [e-mail]

Published by Sordelet Ink

www.sordeletink.com

Receive a free Sordelet Ink playscript by clicking here!

THE WHITE ROAD opened at The Irish Theatre of Chicago on May 8, 2015. The production was directed by Robert Kauzlaric and stage managed by Jen Bukovsky. Set Design by Ira Amyx and Merje Versky, Lighting Design by Julian Pike, Sound Design by Victoria Deiorio, Costume Design by Allison Amidei, Dialect Design by Elise McCollum Kauzlaric, Properties Design by Ian Jerome, Assistant Stage Managed by Emily Dillard, and Dramaturgy by Annaliese McSweeney. The cast was as follows:

SHACKLETON: Paul Dunckel

WORSLEY: Kevin Theis

WILD: Michael McKeogh

CREAN: Matthew Isler

HURLEY: Neal Starbird

McILROY: Nicholas Bailey

ORDE-LEES: Joseph Stearns

McNEISH: Steve Herson

VINCENT: Stephen Walker

BLACKBORROW: Gage Wallace

Understudies: Ian Jerome, Royen Kent, Jeff Kurysz, and Peter Gerharz

Cast of Characters

SHACKLETON, Sir Ernest Henry (Shacks or Boss)

Anglo-Irish expedition leader. Family Motto: Fortitudine Vincimus—by endurance we conquer. Died of a heart attack in 1922.

WORSLEY, Frank Arthur (Skipper)

New Zealander. Part Maori, or so he says. Navigator. In tune with the magnetic core of the earth. Died of cancer in 1943.

WILD, John Francis (Frankie)

British. First Officer. In open lanes or in tight corners, he is cool. Died of pneumonia and diabetes in 1939. His ashes were buried next to Shackleton’s grave on South Georgia Island in 2011.

CREAN, Thomas (Tommy)

Irish. Second Officer. At home at home and at the ends of the earth. Tough. Died of complications following a burst appendix in 1938.

McILROY, James Archibald (Mickey)

British. Born in Ireland. Surgeon. Man of the world. Sweetly devilish. Died of old age in 1968.

HURLEY, James Francis

Australian. Photographer. A warrior with his camera. A restless loner. Died of a heart attack in 1962.

ORDE-LEES, Thomas

British. Storekeeper, Motor Expert, Ski Expert. Navy man. Impervious to his unpopularity. Died of dementia in 1958.

MCNEISH, Henry (Chippy)

Scottish. Carpenter. Measures with his eye, not a ruler. Respected, but not liked. Died of many causes in 1930.

VINCENT, John William

British. Able Seaman. Shows his best qualities at sea and his worst while ashore. Died from complications following pneumonia in 1941.

BLACKBORROW, W. Pearce

Welsh. Stowaway, later Steward. Optimist. Determined. Died of chronic bronchitis in 1949.

Additional Characters:

SORLLE, Norwegian (to be played by ORDE-LEES actor)

MATS, Norwegian boy, 12 (to be played or voiced by McILROY actor)

TORSTEN, Norwegian boy, 10 (to be played or voiced by BLACKBORROW actor)

Animals:

Mrs. Chippy, a cat

Canadian sled dogs

Puppies

Penguins

Seals

Killer whales

Leopard seals

(NB: The animals need not be represented in a literal way, or even represented at all. Shadows, sounds (live or recorded), fabric movement, invisible? It’s open)

For the dogs.

Who is the third who walks always beside you?

When I count, there are only you and I together

But when I look ahead, up the white road

There is always another one walking beside you.

T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land

ACT I

SCENE I - The Crew

(A sail luffs and then is blown full)

(SHACKLETON writes to CREAN)

SHACKLETON

May 25, 1914. My dear Tommy Crean, financing is finally secured. This is your official offer to join the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.

CREAN

Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. That’s posh, Shacks.

SHACKLETON

The last prize of exploration on this earth—

CREAN

True.

SHACKLETON

—the crossing of the Antarctic Continent via the South Pole. Frank Wild shall be first officer.

CREAN

I wouldn’t do otherwise.

SHACKLETON

You shall be second officer. Your salary is to be £166 a year. I am well aware that rank and wages are not inducements to you—

CREAN

I’d do it for free if I could afford it.

SHACKLETON

I suspect you would do it for free if you could.

CREAN

Ah.

SHACKLETON

Tommy, I cannot do this without you.

CREAN

Contract to follow under separate cover.

SHACKLETON

Yours sincerely, Ernest Shackleton.

CREAN

So I’m off again.

(CREAN joins SHACKLETON. WILD appears. He reads a letter from SHACKLETON)

SHACKLETON

My dearest Wild—

WILD

Dearest? I’m coming up in his estimation, eh? Etcetera. Salary, inducements, contract, etcetera. Dogs.

SHACKLETON

—a mix of wolf and several large breeds, Great Dane, Mastiff, Newfoundland. I need seventy such dogs. These dogs shall have to be transported from Canada to Buenos Aires, where you will meet the barquentine which I have christened the Endurance.

WILD

I can manage seventy large dogs.

SHACKLETON

Most sincerely, Ernest Shackleton.

WILD

P.S.

SHACKLETON

We shall also require a mouser. Would you be so kind as to locate a large tomcat to be transported along with the dogs?

WILD

I can manage a cat.

SHACKLETON

Awaiting your reply.

WILD

My dearest Boss, I have gathered the dogs as you specified. Bodies particularly suited to Antarctic climes. Temperaments temperate. Keen eyes. Avidness and—

SHACKLETON and WILD

Steady as you go.

WILD

Ever yours, Frankie Wild. P.S. I have found your mouser. It is a soundly dispositioned feline—amusing, even, if a cat can be described so.

CREAN

(Hands copy to SHACKLETON) This might do.

SHACKLETON

(Reading copy) Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages. Months of darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in case of success.

CREAN

Fair enough?

SHACKLETON

Well done, Tommy.

CREAN

I’ll run it then.

(CREAN posts the notice. HURLEY enters with a box on a strap slung over his shoulder. During this next, he opens the box and assembles a tripod and camera. CREAN prepares the room for interviews)

SHACKLETON

My dearest Wild—

WILD

Etcetera.

SHACKLETON

Delightful news! I have been fortunate to engage the services of the Australian Frank Hurley as official photographer.

WILD

Oh, ho, that’s something.

SHACKLETON

We need quality photographic records of our expedition. The world clamors for images, not words, and I cannot ignore the tide of the times. You shall be called Frank and he shall be called Hurley.

WILD

We can’t have two