J^emfcr 23, 2010
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“New Land”
Daniel Seller
“In the winter or 1911-12,
five Englishmen and five Nor
wegians raced each other to
The bottom of the earth. Onlv
The five Norwegians returned,
^is is the story of the Eng-
*'*^’^at chilling line adorns
,ue posters scattered around
^pus for the Montreat _
Allege Theatre Deparments
student production o^erra
rdlev, based off the true
story of how Robert Falcon
Scott and his team of explor
ers raced on foot against a
Norwegian sled dog team to
h the nrst to reach the houth
Pole. The following is a quick
summary of their journey and
its outcome. , ,
After struggling desperately
for weeks and manhandling
rLir sled across hundreds
Smiles of
,11 the while dealing with
Lstbite and a critical hand
“jury on one of the men
retain Scott s team finally
Cached their destination only
ro discover the heartbreaking
spality that the Norwegian
earn had beaten them there
bv almost a whole month.
Smittingfiefeat,butrefiis-
L to lose heart, Scott urged
lis men homeward, promis-
. ‘ Jorv and honor despite
Ififir defeat: “We’ve got to the
Pole and back again, as we
-rf we would, and they can
L^&ed proud of the first
c«.rlishmen to do it, or to
L jf with them all!” Unfortu-
” tely **
Irst One by one. Captain
men are lost to the
cold, until he is the only one who
remains, and then he too perishes
after writing a letter back home,
telling of the journey and the
disasters that occurred.
The students’ production of
this play was masterfully done.
Marcus Wall excelled in the role
of Captain Robert Scott, so much
so that it would be impossible to
tell that this was, amazingly. Wall’s
first time performing in a full-
length play. Scott’s men. Bowers,
Evans, Oates and Wilson (played
W Jake Clement, Josh Platt,
Christian Tonkins and Nathan
Dimmock, respectively) were all
exceptionally cast and played. Of
particular note was Platt’s perfor
mance of Evans’ gradual decay,
both mentally and physically, and
finally his violent, heart-rending
death. Scott’s sweetheart, Kathleen
(Lisa Ariola) also made several
appearances in flash-backs. She
was convincingly and artfully
played, lending depth and insight
into Scott’s back-story and inner
struggle. Finally, Winston Rhei-
nbolt was deliciously nasty as the
Norwegian explorer Amundsen
who haunts Scott’s imagination
and memories throughout his
journey. If Kathleen acts as Scott’s
“shoulder-angel” then Amundsen
is his shoulder-devil, taunting and
tempting him to play God with
the fate of his men.
Also of special note was
Caitlin Neal’s hard work on the
brilliant costumes, and Jim South
erland’s set design. Both added a
great deal of beUevability to the
story. How Southerland got his
hands on a full-size ice sled, I will
never know, but at the risk of
sounding illiterate with my choice
of words... it was really cool.
The whole cast
should be ap
plauded for their
outstanding per
formances and for
the massive amount
of effort they put into this play
(no easy task among all of the
academic demands expected
of full time college students^
Marcus Wall said this about the
experience of performing Terra
Nova, “There was a lot of hard
work and many, many hours for
Terra Nova to come together.
But now that the work is done,
there is a sense of joy about each
performance, and also a sense of
peace, even amidst the pre-show
nervousness.”
Montreat College’s student
production ofTerra Nova was,
in a word, a success; a tragic
sto^ that drags down the heart
while at the same time inspir
ing it. The students’ handled
and performed the work with
the greatest respect, honor and
panache, and my hat goes off to
everyone involved. Well done.
Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way
I that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law
ofthe LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night”
Psalm 1:1-2