The Wreck of the Queen Thomasina
The soothing sound of lapping waves, of the ocean and the occasional cry of a seabird, are interrupted harshly; the cries of men, the cracking of timber, the wreck of the Queen Thomasina a tragedy unwitnessed, for even the two survivors have little memory of the event, waking on a tiny island which offers only sand and more sand.
Traumatised and destitute, these are gunner Nickel (Connor Johnson) and cook Crumb (Harrison Lind), one clutching an empty bottle and the other a cracked wooden spoon, all that they have save the clothes on their backs, their addled wits and the memories of how they came to the Queen Thomasina and the command of Captain Tom, a pair of rhyming pirates reminiscing about blood, booty and golden ears.
Written by Johnson and directed by Alexandra Harbold, as befits a Fringe show of modest means The Wreck of the Queen Thomasina is about making the most out of nothing, the incongruous shipwrecked sailors confessing their quirks and their failings, Crumb an orphan from the London docks who saw no other path than pirate or male companion, Nickel coming to terms with the deep feelings he has for the undeniable charms of the wooden chest found buried in the sand.
Whether it contains dosh or nosh or possibly a build-your-own-pirate-ship set, or something which is in practical terms useless but which will bring them to an acceptance of themselves and their situation, The Wreck of the Queen Thomasina has brought about the death of their old lives but a change to something new, a show of hard living men who beneath their tattoos have the souls of small woodland mammals.
The Wreck of the Queen Thomasina runs at theSpace on the Mile until Saturday 19th August
