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The Conquest of the South Pole

Arcola, Inner London
From: Wednesday, 25th April 2012
To: Saturday, 26 May 2012

Our Review:

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Synopsis

Best mates - out of work, on benefits, hanging out, and hiding in epic journeys of the imagination. Four young men escape the realities of signing on and missing out by recreating Admundsen's legendary expedition in a tiny attic room: one London footstep for every polar kilometre. "Nothing but booze, make-believe and blarney. Sod off to the South Pole." A contemporary classic, The Conquest of the South Pole revels in the complexities of what makes a group tick. Highly theatrical and poetic, this bolt-of-energy play tracks a journey from despair to hope - the weight of the everyday world seen through youthful eyes.

Our Review:

1 May 2012

What do you do when you’re a bunch of unemployed German guys with time on your hands between visits to the job centre? Recreate Roald Amundsen’s conquest of the South Pole in your friend’s attic, of course.

Manfred Karge’s The Conquest of the South Pole is a tale of escapism in the face of hopelessness. It is revived at the Arcola Theatre by director Stephen Unwin.

Slupianek (O-T Fagbenle) is the cocky, cool leader of the gang and Buscher (Mark Field) his slightly thuggish right-hand man. Seiffert (Andrew Gower) and Braukmann (Sam Crane) complete the core quartet with their own individual brands of neurosis.

Seiffert appears to be on the brink of suicide after reading a book about the ennui of millionaires - if they are bored and unhappy what hope is there for the normal folk?. But Slupianek has been reading too - about Amundsen’s 1911 polar expedition...

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