The Wider Earth – the critically acclaimed drama about the young Charles Darwin’s expedition on HMS Beagle – currently playing at the custom-built theatre in the Jerwood Gallery at London’s Natural History Museum, has extended its run and will now play until 24 February 2019.
Featuring a cast of seven, and 30 extraordinary hand-crafted puppets representing the exotic wildlife Darwin encountered, The Wider Earth is an ingenious coming-of-age story which celebrates the incredible complexity of our planet and Darwin’s adventurous spirit as he faced perilous environments and unknown dangers on his bold voyage.
The Natural History Museum’s Director of Engagement Clare Matterson says, “We are committed to bringing science to life through exciting collaborations like this with artists – even when this requires the building of a 357-seat traditional performance theatre in one of our galleries! The Wider Earth offers a radically different kind of museum experience. Audiences are transported to the far side of the world with the young Charles Darwin on his first voyage aboard the HMS Beagle – just metres away from both the working scientific laboratories of our Darwin Centre and some of the original specimens he collected on that same voyage in 1831.
“The Wider Earth has had a fantastic reception and helped attract new audiences to the Museum so we are delighted to be able to extend its performance run and allow more people to see this captivating drama.”
Written and directed by Dead Puppet Society’s creative director David Morton, the idea for The Wider Earth was conceived at a residency in Cape Town in 2013 with the Handspring Puppet Company – the creative team behind War Horse.
