The Town Players of New Canaan is proud to present Ted Tally’s Terra Nova, Winner of the 1984 Obie Award for Best Play. Directed by Deborah Burke, Terra Nova tells the 1911/1912 story of five Englishmen and five Norwegians who race each other to the bottom of the world, with only the Norwegians returning. The focus is on the 5 Englishmen who never returned – depicting the final days of Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s ill-fated expedition. The story follows the explorer and his men at various stages of their ordeal, with flashbacks of Scott and his young wife at home and with fateful glimpses of his Norwegian rival, Roald Amundsen, whose party beat him to the South Pole. Refusing the use of sled dogs as unsporting, Scott and his team struggle to drag their heavy gear across a frozen wasteland, only to find that Amundsen has preceded them to their goal. But it is in the tragic trip back, as the members of the expedition die one by one, that Terra Nova captures with chilling intensity the awesome bravery of men who realize that suffering and death will be their only reward.
Rarely is such an intriguingly written and powerful production executed with historically accurate props and costumes – borrowed from makeup artist/actor/director Scott Ramp and shipped across the country from Oregon.
The Town Players of New Canaan is proud to recognize our broader community of artists featured in this production: a bust from New Canaan Sculpture Studio’s Michael Cohn and handcrafted knitwear provided by New Canaan Artisans’ Sue Scannell. With the utmost excitement, the music is being composed by 11-year-old musical prodigy Dylan Conuel from Pittsfield, MA. Dylan was discovered by Director Deborah Burke at the Red Lion Inn for his virtuosic piano playing.
Performances of Terra Nova run weekends from Friday, February 21st – Sunday, March 9th at the Powerhouse Theatre in Waveny Park, New Canaan. The cast features actors from West Haven, Stamford, New Canaan, Ridgefield, Weston, Bethel, NY and Brewster, NY: Billy Anderson, Daniel Basilett, Matthew Bogen, Chris Cluett, Dan Murphy, Amber Skye Noyes, Matt Regney. Tickets are currently on sale at TPNC.org: $35 for adults, $30 for seniors and $25 for students. For more information about this production, for tickets, or to learn about the Town Players of New Canaan, go to tpnc.org.
