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Frozen Ropes

“69˚S” strings up the story of Shackleton

SIR ERNEST HENRY SHACKLETON WAS THE leader of the famous (but perhaps ironically titled) Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole. After establishing a record for the farthest south latitude ever reached by men in 1909 (falling just over 100 miles from the South Pole), Shackleton returned to Antarctica in 1917 in an effort to cross the continent. Unfortunately, his (again ironicallynamed) ship, The Endurance, was caught in the ice for many months, during which Shackleton and his crew faced trials few men have ever endured.
This happy story is the subject of the latest production by the puppet masters of Phantom Limb - 69˚S – which will play out at the Paramount Theatre February 7-12 as part of the 2011-12 Arts Emerson season (www.artsemerson. org).
Combining highly-articulated puppets with dance, film and music by Kronos Quartet, 69˚S tells the story of Shackleton’s superhuman crew in a way that is both impressively mechanized and touchingly human, focusing on the relationships that allowed the captive men to survive on the ice. In the process, the show also comments on the state of the environment and how man’s reach so often exceeds his sense.
Based on actual records from Shackleton and his crew, as well as polar scientists and environmental researchers, 69˚S takes theatergoers into the heart of Shackleton’s nightmare and into the face of the one facing us all.
“It started originally with a staging idea,” explains Phantom Limbs’ Erik Sanko, “which involved putting marionette operators on stilts. Around the same time Jessica had been saying that she really wanted for there to be a boat in the next set that we did.” Thus began Limb’s own poleassisted race to the Pole.
“We wanted to find out what impact that story has now,” adds Jessica Grindstaff. “And that’s how we sort of came around to this idea of looking at 69 degrees south and [Shackleon’s] moment of crisis.”
The show takes its title from the latitude where The Endurance eventually sank and where Shackleton’s “crisis” reached its highest point. “We are interested in looking at what the modern 69˚S is,” Sanko explains “and how we approach it, looking at how to recalibrate our ambitions and goals to have a holistic impact on our community and environment. 69˚S.”
As part of their research, Sanko and Grindtsaff wen tfrom Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH to Antarctica to find printed and more permanent records of Shackleton’s trip and its impact on the southernmost landmass in the world and the world at large. “I went down there with a little bit of an attitude,” Grindstaff recalls.
She says that she had arrived thinking about how we humans “always have to explore everywhere and be up in everyone’s business,” and that she left with a “totally different” feeling about the perilous place. “There’s just so much respect for the continent down there,” she says. “ People are so serious about what they are doing ... it’s serious business, and there’s fascinating work being done.”
One of the most important parts of this “work” is the study of global warming that is being conducted in Antarctica. “Obviously, that’s the topic of conversation,” Grindstaff says, noting that this “conversation” is raised in the second act of the performance.
So even if the closest you came to the South Pole was a trip to South Boston, join Phantom Limb on what Sanko calls “an artistic and emotional journey that explores the symbiotic relationship between humans and the environment” and that reinvigorates “the spirit of foregoing individual glory for the sake of collective survival.”
Just be sure to dress warmly!