Almost 90 years ago George Mallory, Britain’s leading climber, and Sandy Irvine, a young powerful oarsman, vanished into the mist close to the summit of Everest. The mystery of what happened to them remains one the most compelling questions in world exploration. Did they get to the top almost thirty years before Hillary and Tenzing? Was Mallory able to climb the infamous second step? We will probably never know the answers to these questions yet the fate of these men remains now as compelling a story as it was all those years ago.
I’ve been fascinated by these two men, and the history of the early attempts on Everest for many years, and over the past few months I’ve been writing a one man play about George Mallory and his three attempts to climb what he referred to simply as The Mountain. My play focusses on one question. What if Mallory had not died on Everest? What ghosts would have haunted him, what would his life have been like?
Beyond Everest is being written as a one-man play and I’ll be taking it to the Edinburgh festival in 2014. As part of the writing process I’ve produced a short excerpt in the form of a radio drama. The play is a long way from finished but I intend to begin work shopping it towards the end of this year.
Have a listen to this excerpt I’d been interested to hear what you think.
Click here to listen to Beyond Everest
http://johndburns.podomatic.com/entry/2013-06-12T03_12_41-07_00
The excerpt of your play sounds fantastic, I’d love to hear the whole thing when it’s done. A fascinating and awe inspiring subject which I’ve read a lot about. Congrats and keep going!
Hmmm – sounds very interesting an idea for a play – didn’t know you did stuff for the Edinburgh Festival – does that mean you’re famous? 😉
Haven’t had time to listen to the podcast excerpt yet (note the time of posting – I’ve just got back from a trip) but will have a listen later in the week.
I find their story fascinating but, despite trying to get into a book about Sandy Irvine and the attempt on Everest, I can’t get into the book at all. The first few chapters are concentrating too much on his early life and hasn’t reached the mountain yet!