To view prices and purchase online, please login or create an account now.



The White Whale

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title The White Whale
Authors and Contributors      By (author) James Phillips
SeriesModern Plays
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:80
Dimensions(mm): Height 198,Width 129
Category/GenrePlays, playscripts
ISBN/Barcode 9781474226011
ClassificationsDewey:822.92
Audience
Professional & Vocational

Publishing Details

Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint Methuen Drama
Publication Date 4 September 2014
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

You remember when we started to hunt whales again? We fought monsters and we killed them and wrestled the oil from their dead bodies and we sold it. In the future we hunt whales for the oil in their bodies. Just like they did in centuries past. The oil of a single whale can run an army for a week. This is new science. This is our future. So we send gangs of men out onto the dark, cold sea to bring back the things we need. The crew of the Pequod are going to sea because it's their job. But Ahab, captain of the Pequod, is not going to sea for the oil or for the money. Ahab is going for revenge. Revenge on the vast whale that took him down into the black depths of the ocean. Revenge on the greatest whale in all the oceans: a perfectly white whale. And Ishmael, a young man new to whaling, is going to sea seeking a hunter's violence, trying to stop the thoughts of violence in his heart. And we are all going with them. The White Whale premiered on 4 September 2014, at Leeds Dock, UK in a production by Slung Low theatre company.

Author Biography

James Phillips is a British playwright and director. Educated at St Catherine's College, University of Oxford, Phillips's first play, The Rubenstein Kiss (2005), won both the John Whiting Award and the TMA Award for Best Play. He was also a recipient of the National Arts Endowment Award for his first professional production as a director, Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme (Pleasance, London). He is a selector for the NSDF and wrote a new adaptation of The Wind in the Willows for the NSDF Ensemble, performed at Latitude Festival. Other plays include The Little Fir Tree (2004) and Hidden in the Sand (2013).

Reviews

James Phillips' script . . . is knotty and thoughtful, as it explores the responsibilities we have to the planet and to each other, the dangers of fundamentalism in many forms, and what we mean by society and justice. -- Lyn Gardner * Guardian * The White Whale is an unconventional, unique and insightful piece of art. It's more than just a play; it's a new perspective and exhilarating new direction for theatre. * The Public Reviews *