By Ashley Copeland
Shipwrecked! is a celebration of tales from yonder.
PlayMakers Repertory Company in Chapel Hill opened its winter season with Shipwrecked! An Entertainment: The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (as told by himself)—a classic adventure story by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Donald Margulies. The show features protagonist Louis de Rougemont as he tells a captivating story of romance, suspense and triumph in the Seven Seas and in the Australian Outback.
The action-packed adventure follows Rougemont through his travels around the world after he ends up shipwrecked. He explains and illustrates a series of seemingly outlandish feats, such as riding a sea turtle and becoming a tribal leader. After he returns home to 1898 London, Rougemont faces skepticism and doubt as he tries to relay the events throughout the past thirty years.
While the script was highly entertaining in itself, the versatility of the actors further highlighted the quick-paced, fluid nature of the production. Seven actors effectively played more than 80 roles. In particular, Derrick Ledbetter charmed the audience through his portrayal of Rougemont’s beloved dog Bruno; Ledbetter managed to elicit laughs while on all fours and without uttering one word of Victorian English.
The set remained static, and complex technological effects were kept at a minimum. The actors embellished the scenes through their performances and audio and visual effects. For example, actors on the stage clacked shells in tandem with Rougemont’s pearl shelling and shook thick sheets of aluminum foil to create the sounds for the heavy thunderstorms our hero encountered. Additionally, the actors seamlessly moved from background roles to prominent characters in Rougemont’s self-told story.
Shipwrecked! is a family-oriented play that glorifies the high points of a man’s extravagant—almost crass—adventure within elitist Victorian society. This 90-minute, one-act play easily accommodates quick scene changes and a wide array of personas—watch carefully, even Queen Victoria makes an appearance.
Shipwrecked! will run at 7:30 p.m. with matinees at 2 p.m. through Dec. 19 in PlayMakers’ Paul Green Theatre at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Tickets are available for purchase at www.playmakersrep.org.
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