This New Musical Celebrates Coastal Communities and the RNLI
Whitby-based theatre company Dogwood Productions are on tour with a new musical about Victorian hero Henry Freeman
Featuring music from the award-winning composer, Alastair Collingwood, Facing The Waves brings together the stories of an iconic real-life Victorian hero and fictional young mum to share what life’s like on the Northern coastline.
‘Anyone who lives in Whitby has a strong relationship with the sea and we live on the side of Whitby where the lifeboat station is,’ says director Antony Bellekom. ‘In the pubs or cafés, there’ll be people that you know and you’ll hear the boats roaring out and think those people on that boat are those same people you were with – ordinary people doing extraordinary things. We were very conscious that Whitby has its own particular hero.’
Henry Freeman was the sole survivor of a lifeboat disaster on 9th February 1861. ‘It was the biggest storm that’d ever been seen in the North Sea,’ Antony says. ‘More than 200 boats sank in one night and the Whitby boat went out many times. Henry was a young chap that had only recently taken up fishing and they asked him to join the crew. People and families were helping out and in the late afternoon they went out once more but unfortunately the boat hit a bad wave, overturned and, not more than 60 yards from all their families, 12 crew members drowned in front of Whitby harbour. Henry was the only survivor and went on to be coxswain.’
Henry survived because he was wearing a new design – a cork lifejacket. He was awarded an RNLI Silver Medal for the courage and determination he displayed. In 1880, he was awarded a second RNLI Silver Medal. ‘We thought we must do more research into this,’ Antony says. ‘We spent a long time in the British Library down in London researching and getting the Whitby Gazette and its predecessors out – finding out more about Henry. At the same time we applied successfully for the Heritage Lottery Fund to start recording other voices to create a contemporary view of living on the coast as well, talking particularly to lifeboat crews.
‘The story we’ve created has two main characters – Henry is obviously one and the other doesn’t exist in real life but is made up of the thoughts and expectations of lots of people who work on the lifeboats now.’ Faith is an RNLI crew member. ‘We recorded hundreds of hours of content as far north as Alnwick right down into Lincolnshire, all along the coast gathering people’s thoughts, and we’ve used those and some of the recordings and clips pop up within the show.’
Facing The Waves is a story about our relationship with the sea, the reality of living in coastal towns and the pressures facing those who crew the lifeboats. ‘I hope they enjoy the evening, the songs and the story but I hope they’ll also feel that it’s authentic and that we’ve represented their lives, experiences and aspirations,’ says Antony. ‘If you live on the coast, it is a different lifestyle and if you take Whitby as an example, it’s a fantastic place for things to do and see but for the people who live there, there are real difficulties. All the smaller properties are now B&Bs and holiday accommodation and employment is seasonal – so it’s a really mixed story. They love the tourists on the one hand but it makes it really difficult for young people to find permanent work or to get on the housing ladder. We’ve used elements of that dilemma as the background as well because that’s what life in coastal towns is like!’
Dogwood Productions were successful in receiving Arts Council support which means they’ve been able to take the show on tour. ‘We thought it appropriate not to take it to big theatres but to take it back to Yorkshire and the North East, where we’d done the recordings in the first place,’ Antony says. ‘We’ve got a lovely cast of six, really varied in their backgrounds. We’re really happy with who we’ve got and hopefully audiences are going to enjoy it.
‘If you can take away a good story but also songs that you’re humming after the show then that feels like a good night out.’
