The Last Lifeboat is Luke Yankee’s swift and engaging theatrical retelling of the life of J. Bruce Ismay, proprietor of the RMS Titanic, who was aboard the ship and survived its fated maiden voyage.
The Theatre Group at SBCC’s current student showcase production of the play is inventive, thought-provoking and highly recommended.
The play is composed of brief vignettes that build a picture of the family and experiences that motivated Ismay to aim so high and to shoulder his father’s ship-building business.
In rapid succession, we witness myriad small decisions and compromises, none of which alone caused the Titanic to sink and Ismay to escape while so many others perished, but that together point to the way things turned out.
Only two cast members occupy a single role throughout the play. Johnny Waaler as Ismay is charged with portraying the protagonist from childhood to old age having borne a tremendous weight of doubt and regret. Mimi Vörösmarthy plays Ismay’s fictional first love understatedly, but convincingly.
Real-life influencers such as William Randolph Hearst, J.P. Morgan and Michigan Sen. Alden Smith, who headed the committee that investigated the Titanic affair, feature prominently, and the actors who play them shine in these roles.
The rest of the 14-member cast maintains a flexible and unobtrusive fluidity that makes it easy to accept, if not necessarily to track, the action across frequent stops and starts, entrances and exits, switching back and forth among characters over time, changes of scenery and a fast pace.
It’s hard to forget the cast members are very young when the complexities of life and tragedy are deep, nuanced and challenging for even more experienced actors to convey.
But each of the actors, especially the leads, provided plenty of moments when the acting was unnoticeable, so that the characters and their circumstances, both internal and external, were all that could be seen.
The entire play, which spans Ireland, England, New York City and the Atlantic Ocean, takes place on a simple set on a corner stage, and the actors are visible the entire time.
Costume and character changes take place right on set, between scenes on a darkened stage. The actors can be seen transforming from one character to another in silhouette as they remove or apply basic accessories and props.
Time progresses and locations change with various projected black-and-white impressionist-style backgrounds and targeted use of lighting.
SBCC productions often feature clever moving set pieces, and this play is no exception.
The ultimate lesson to draw from The Last Lifeboat is that no matter how clear it might be that the outcomes of choices are either good or bad, sometimes the biggest mistake is someone else’s salvation.
At the show I saw, we were treated to a post-performance Q&A with the playwright and the original producer of the play. Yankee explained how Senate hearings and other parts of the story directly quoted historical transcripts, while some Titanic myths were debunked and others purposely perpetuated.
Some entirely fictional storylines were included to make a thematic point, or, as the play was originally intended for the screen, because sometimes a fictional love interest can encapsulate a lot of dynamics in life that are too complex or subconscious to elucidate in two hours.
The Last Lifeboat runs through Saturday. Click here for tickets and information. The Jurkowitz Theatre is very small, so act quickly to get tickets. You’re in for a treat.
— Noozhawk contributor and local arts critic Judith Smith-Meyer is a round-the-clock appreciator of the creative act. She can be reached at news@noozhawk.com. The opinions expressed are her own.