10/05/2024
Spent two glorious days in Wellfleet and Plymouth, MA researching ships for our upcoming production of Shakespeare's Pericles at BCA AVPA/Theatre. Somehow I'd never been!
YOU MUST GO with your family, friends and students! It is especially glorious during leaf season.
DAY ONE, hung out with the marvelous Richard Bailey - the REAL captain of the ship in the film Master and Commander. A generous storyteller who filled in so many gaps in my research with exactly how the actors should behave on a calm ship and a stormy ship. Just before heading out he thought to DM Whit Perry to see if he might have a few moments to share his deep knowledge as the Captain of the exquisite Mayflower II at the Plimoth Patuxet Museums.
DAY TWO: This brilliant, generous man spent HOURS with me, first going through the workshop at the museum in great detail - explaining tools, ropes, equipment and techniques. We met again after I breathlessly visited the AMAZING living history museum replete with the finest reconstructions of early 17th C homes I have ever seen (and I have seen many). The period actors, staying in character, connected me with costume designers in order to assist my research. And then the best part - a personal tour of the magnificent replica of the Mayflower. Again, Whit Perry and two delightful sailors answered my non-stop questions in detail, demonstrating some of the endless jobs on a ship and allowing me access to parts of the ship not available to the public.
I can't say enough about this experience. Life seems increasingly like a series of transactions taking place in cyberspace. The last two days felt entirely human with kind, smart people giving of themselves simply to help educate and share a very special knowledge that is becoming increasingly rarefied. All I can do is pass it along to my beautiful students and encourage you all to take a truly remarkable trip to the Plimoth Patuxet Museums.
