Douglas Mawson Walking Alone 2014

• published: 08 Dec 2014
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Composer & Conductor: Jim Coyle Director: Jody Rose Douglas Mawson: Sepehr Irandoost Design: Alex Cotton and Susan Boyle Voiceover: Peter FitzSimons Douglas Mawson Walking Alone tells the story of the explorer's remarkable solo trek for survival in Antarctica after the deaths of his two sledging companions. Set in early days of 1913, this remarkable tale of survival is told in three simultaneous levels, Mawson delivers a cery straightforward account of himself and his deteriorating circumstances. The libretto is based on his own sledging journal which is as matter-of-fact and understand as Mawson's speech was reported to have been. He was a scientist and a modest hero who eschewed overstatement; nevertheless, in the Opera his extremity causes occasional outbursts of emotion, despite his stoic spirit. The strings tell a different tale; their music is complex, often turbulent and conflicted. The music represents Mawson's increasingly troubled interior state as he struggles to come to terms with the grief over the loss of his friends, his longing for home, his physical pain, hunger and exhaustion and the great burdens of loneliness, leadership and apparent powerlessness. Finally, there are the recorded sounds representing wind, ice, rock and snow. These sounds are not hostile; they are simply indifferent to Mawson and his fate. The ice music is symmetrical and fractal and is based on the hexagonal proportions of ice crystals. A note on the Libretto: The libretto of this Opera, written by its composer, is based on events recorded in Douglas Mawson's sledging diaries. Each scene also contains a quotation from a literary work which is known to have been taken south by Mawson's party, except for the final scene which contains a line from a contemporary music-hall song. Scene 1: Mawson is burying his friend Mertz, whome he has nursed through terminal illness. Mawson's supplies are milited and he must march immediately to reach safety. The scene includes a quote from the Anglican Burial Service. Scene2: Mawson is forced to stay in his tent by a blizzard and worries about the state of his supplies. 'In Memoriam' by Tennyson is quoted. Scene3: Having fallen down a crevasse, Mawson forced himself to climb to safety. He repeats a line from 'The Quitter' by Robert Service over and over as a sort of mantra of survival. Scene4: As Mawson stumbles along, he becomes increasingly concerned about the deteriorating state of his health. The verse quoted is from 'Prospice' by Robert Browning. Scene5: Maswon has arrived in a well-supplied but unmanned snow cavern called Aladdin's Cave. As remainders of the world outside his solitary pain are invoked, Mawson becomes increasingly hopeful about his survival.