Darwin Play Review: The Wider Earth

When we think of the famous author of The Origin of Species, we see an old man with white hair and a beard. The Natural History Museum's new production presents him as a fresh-faced and enthusiastic naturalist of merely 22 years.  The Wider Earth's presents the Beagle's voyage that influenced Darwin's whole life.

The play is a new departure for the Natural History Museum. This museum is permanently associated in my mind with numerous family trips to see dinosaurs. My expectations were not high as I headed to a preview.

As soon as I walked into the new theatre, I saw bright lights and a contrastingly dark, irregularly-shaped stage. This was something different.



A minimal cast plays the key characters in Darwin's voyage and life. The puppets are no ordinary puppets. They are representations of the unusual creatures that Darwin discovers on the other side of the world. The puppetry is in the same style and by the same team as War Horse.

My second-row seat gave me a great view of the workings of the puppets, if not of the video backdrop. I could appreciate how well the young actor conveys Darwin's rapture at each fresh discovery.

The script dramatises key moments in the 5-year voyage that influence the young naturalist's whole life. Darwin argues with the temperamental captain. We see the beginnings of a crisis in faith and religion that his fascinating discoveries later engender.

I looked around at the rest of the audience at the end. I noticed that the Natural History Museum had succeeded in attracting a young adult audience. Maybe they've found the right formula to attract that elusive young target audience back into museums?


The Wider Earth

The Shakespeare Walk

London staged a special walk as part of the 400^th Shakespeare Anniversary Celebrations. A total of 37 specially-made short films played on the South Bank between Westminster Bridge and Tower Bridge. The event's title was The Complete Walk.

A special map showed where the 37 screens could be found. Each short film lasted about 10 minutes. Many had been filmed in Shakespeare’s chosen locations:

•  Hamlet at Elsinore in Denmark
•  Macbeth at Glamis Castle in Scotland
• Henry V at the Agincourt Battlefield in France
• The Tempest in Bermuda
• Anthony and Cleopatra at the Red Pyramid in Egypt
• The Merchant of Venice in Venice, Italy
• Othello at Othello’s Tower in Famagusta, North Cyprus
• Troilus and Cressida at the Ruins of Troy in Turkey
• Romeo & Juliet at Juliet’s Tomb, Verona, Italy

… and many more.

There were lots of people following the walk. At times there were so many that you had to wait for the next 10-minute screening. Each film played in a loop, so you didn’t have to wait long for the next screening of the most popular plays.

The walk took me past Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, a replica of the original theatre. President Obama had apparently visited earlier that day and wondered about the absence of a roof if it rained. I was more concerned about the very chill wind blowing off the Thames that day.

There was quite a bottleneck near the Financial Times on Bankside, where Measure for Measure was playing. Isabella’s entreaties were very powerful. The large crowd demonstrated that Shakespeare can still capture our attention and connect with us today.

I encountered another large crowd near the Clink Street Bridge Arch. Here Twelfth Night was playing just a stone’s throw from the site of the old Clink Prison. The prison dates 200 years further back than Shakespeare.

All's Well That Ends Well at Southwark Cathedral

Sadly not all the screens were working as I passed and I missed some of my favourite plays. However, that meant that I enjoyed plays that were not so familiar to me. I welcomed the seating in the Millennium Courtyard at Southwark Cathedral. Here I saw great acting filmed at the Château de Lourmarin in France for All’s Well that Ends Well.

Karen Andrews runs
Anglicity Ltd. She offers 

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