Boiler Room Six: A Titanic Story at Pleasance Theatre

The tragic tale of the supposedly “unsinkable” Titanic has captured our collective imagination for over a century. While Boiler Room Six: A Titanic Story is far from the first retelling of the disaster, this compelling one-man play from Tom Foreman Productions shows there are still fresh angles on the story. Tightly packed and thrilling, this deft one-hour production is well worth seeing, either at its current run at The Pleasance Theatre, London or on its upcoming UK tour.

As the title suggests, Boiler Room Six takes us into the belly of the beast, introducing us to the stokers and trimmers who kept the Titanic’s furnaces alive. It’s hot, backbreaking work, but protagonist Fred Barrett – an experienced seaman – relishes the rhythm of the job. He’s just about managed to keep his mismatched team together when disaster strikes: a small tear in the hull sends water gushing into the boiler room. What follows is an intense account of what it was like in the eye of the storm: the urgent efforts to get the leak under control; the desperate attempts at escape; the panicked evacuation to too few lifeboats.

The story of the Titanic is an inherently dramatic one, so writer Tom Foreman already has good material to work with. What he adds, to great effect, is an intimate perspective on the tragedy that is highly engaging. It’s impossible not to be compelled by Fred’s articulate (and sometimes quite poetic) descriptions of the disaster unfolding around him, whether it’s scrambling up a ladder out of a rapidly flooding boiler room or feeling the ship list beneath his feet. Even though the framing device means we’re assured Fred will survive, it’s no less gripping to watch how he does so.

The immediacy of the first-person narrative is only enhanced by the choice to make Boiler Room Six a one-man show. Actor Charlie Sheepshanks gives an energetic and physical performance, flitting between accents to differentiate the characters. Mostly, though, he narrates as Fred, giving a running commentary on the unfolding action as well as an insight into the demons in Fred’s past.

The set is extremely minimal (just two wooden benches), but the sound and lighting design very effectively convey the chaos of the sinking ship. The din of the boiler room and later, the screams of the passengers, heighten the tension of key dramatic moments. The lighting is used cleverly to imitate the fictional world, from the glow of the furnaces to the cold night over the Atlantic.

If at times some detail feels a little lost in the accelerated runtime (it’s not clear how the furnaces work, for instance), or Fred’s backstory seems a bit contrived, it’s forgiven in the face of a story that’s, for the most part, riveting. On the whole, this captivating play offers a perspective on the well-known tragedy that’s both thrilling and poignant.