Simple 8’s Moby Dick, the critically acclaimed, and multi award-winning staging of Herman Melville’s leviathan masterpiece is being re-worked in a brand-new touring production in association with Royal & Derngate, Northampton. As previously announced Moby Dick will open at Northampton in April 2024 ahead of a London press night at Wilton’s Music Hall before embarking on a UK tour. Full casting will be announced shortly.
First mounted in 2013, this new version of Simple8’s Peter Brook Award-winning adaptation of Melville’s classic will be directed by Royal & Derngate Artistic Director, Jesse Jones, and will travel to Northampton, Perth, London, Ipswich, Newcastle, The Isles of Scilly, Blackpool, York and Malvern.
October, 1839. The Pequod is due to sail out of Nantucket and her skipper, one Captain Ahab, is in need of a crew. Seeking fortune and adventure, a humble schoolmaster named Ishmael ships aboard, undeterred by the most dangerous of industries – hunting whales. Ishmael joins a company charged with one task: to wreak revenge on the white whale that lost Ahab his leg – the infamous Moby Dick. Ahab’s single-minded pursuit ends up consuming Ishmael, the crew and the Pequod itself.
With theatrical flair and thrilling invention, the spirit of the novel – romantic, ambiguous, and rich with allegory – is gloriously captured by Simple8. Complete with sea shanties played live on stage, planks of wood, tattered sheets and a battered assortment of musical instruments, the 9-person ensemble will bring this wonderfully vibrant production ingeniously to life.
In a post-pandemic age Moby Dick is more pertinent and vital than ever. The anguish of isolation, the pressure enforced inter-dependency brings, and the fear of unseen dangers swimming beneath the surface are tackled full tilt in this lively production.
